


I’ll Make It Up to You

by LunaMoth116



Series: Down to Earth [1]
Category: Mystery Science Theater 3000
Genre: Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, Anxiety, Banter, Cambot Needs More Love, Developing Relationship, Falling In Love, Fluff, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Getting Together, Guilt, Heartwarming, Humor, Light Angst, M/M, Mild Language, Post-Series, Reunions, Romance, Romantic Fluff, Slow Burn, Sweet, The Bots Ship It, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Unconventional Families, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, Wing Bots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-08
Updated: 2018-06-24
Packaged: 2019-04-20 04:36:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 47,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14253168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LunaMoth116/pseuds/LunaMoth116
Summary: Joel is thrilled to have Mike and the ’bots back in his life, despite his lingering guilt over abandoning them, but is surprised — and scared — to find his feelings for Mike deepening. Fortunately for him, Mike isn’t any wiser in that area. (Un)fortunately for both of them, the ’bots are determined to help.Or: Joel is nervous, Mike is clueless, and the ’bots ship it hard. This…should be interesting.A fluffy story about second chances, forgiveness, and finding love when it’s least expected. Title from theImagine Dragons songof the same name.





	1. Mind Trick

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Dandelionish](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dandelionish/gifts).



> _While I’ve loved MST3K for several years (yeah, I know, I’m a baby compared to some of y’all *g*), I enjoyed the fics already out there without feeling like I had anything new to add. Fast-forward to 2018 and me randomly searching for Joike fics on AO3. I greatly enjoyed what I found, fell in love with the pairing and, to my surprise, found some inspiration of my own. ~2,000 words later, there was no going back._  
>  _Yes, there are many wonderful “Joel and Mike get together back on Earth” fics, but when a scene from this one took root in my head and demanded to be written (while I was trying to work on two other, unrelated stories, no less), I had no choice but to comply, thinking that was the end of it. It wasn’t. While I may not be the first to tackle this premise, I hope I bring something new to the table, even if it’s just my own take on the idea. :)_  
>  _Not much plot here, folks — as with most of my fics, expect emotional exploration, character development, shameless fluff and just enough angst to keep things interesting. And lots of snark, because it’s MST3K. And maaaaaybe possibly smut. ;) Also, let’s just say there is a lot of truth in this story; I’m not good enough to make_ all _this stuff up._  
>  _Oh, and — like the story — the chapter titles are song titles. Because why not? Generally, the songs are what I listened to on loop while editing/writing that particular chapter, or simply what I thought fit the mood I was aiming for. Lyrics are quoted at the beginning of each chapter; feel free to listen along if you like!_  
>  _Dedicated to my darling Dandelionish, who is the Crow to my Tom Servo. ;) Also dedicated to the many wonderful MST3K authors I’ve found here and elsewhere, who inspired me to not only consume, but create. Thank you for reading!_
> 
>  **Disclaimer:** _If you recognize it, chances are I don’t own it. (I say “chances” because given the multiverse theory, it is entirely possible you may recognize my OCs from some other universe I’m unaware of. But what do I know.)_

_“I missed the opportunity to get you, babe, to stay with me. Never thought, I’d regret the excuses that I’ve made. Like a song, it’ll fade…”_

_~ “Mind Trick”, Jamie Cullum_

 

It was a beautiful April afternoon in Osseo, Minnesota, the sun beaming down from a cloudless blue sky. With a slight breeze bending the winter-bare trees, the temperature was pleasantly chilly, cool enough to require a jacket but comfortable enough that being outside wasn’t an endurance test.

Joel Robinson was spending the day inside doing paperwork.

He sighed as he signed off on the hundredth or so order form of the day with a flourish that was starting to look less like a signature and more like hair collected from the bathtub drain. Such was the exciting life of a Hot Fish Shop manager.

Still, compared to what he had already been through, mundanity was as welcome as rain in a desert. How did an average guy like him get shot into space by mad scientists, build four robots, survive five years of watching some of the worst movies ever made, escape, and then head _back_ to space five years later to save those robots and his replacement? He still had a hard time believing any of it, and yet he’d _lived_ all of it.

He shook his head. These days he tried not to think about any of it, even though it constantly hovered at the edge of his mind. Not because the memories were bad; he hadn’t been lying when he’d told them all that his years on the SOL were the best of his life. No, the real reason he didn’t want to think about it was much more complicated.

Joel leaned back in his chair, exhaling. He glanced at the form and realized he hadn’t dated it. What day was it, anyway? He knew the day of the week, of course, but it was something of a running joke among his employees that he lived and died by his calendar. He wasn’t offended, as that was completely true.

Time management had never been his strong suit, and his years on the SOL hadn’t helped. Up in space, time hadn’t exactly mattered, except for the occasional counting of days between experiments. In a way, that had made the experience a little better; with none of the time constraints of his former life, he never had to worry about things taking too long or being obligated to be anywhere other than the theater once a week. Now, back on Earth, he had to keep track of dates and times and where he was supposed to be for all of them. Some people had electronic calendars, but Joel much preferred writing down his appointments. He’d bought a 12-month wall calendar with generously-sized date squares, and wrote in it every single week.

Joel glanced up at the calendar, hanging by his desk, and froze as he realized what day it was. His pen dropped to the desk, forgotten, as he swallowed hard.

Of course. It was _today._ The anniversary of both his greatest achievement and his worst failure. They were exactly the same thing.

Joel sighed, propping his elbows on the desk and resting his chin on his hands. A year on and he still had no idea how to feel about any of it. Happy that he’d actually accomplished what he’d set out to do? Upset that he’d failed at the one thing he _should_ have been able to do? Relieved to be home safe? Depressed that he returned alone? Any or all of the above?

It had all gone according to plan, and yet it hadn’t. He’d somehow both planned everything to the last detail and yet really hadn’t planned that well. How did he reconcile both success and defeat in his mind?

_I saved them. And then I didn’t._

It might have helped if he could have hashed out all his thoughts and emotions with someone, maybe heard a different perspective, but that hadn’t happened and probably never would. Who exactly could he talk to about this, anyway? Going to a therapist and saying, “I was shot into space for five years and built robots while I was there, and then I left them, and then I went back, and then I left them again with someone else” would probably get him a one-way ticket to a mental hospital. Even his family still didn’t know the whole truth about what had happened to him; he hadn’t wanted to worry any of them, particularly his mother. As for friends…he hadn’t had any of those in a long time. He was friendly with most of his neighbors and employees and had several acquaintances he saw from time to time, but didn’t consider any of them to be friends.

No, the only person he could possibly talk to about any of this was currently drifting in a giant tin can of a satellite hundreds of miles above the earth’s surface.

At least he seemed easy enough to talk to, Joel mused. Though their chats had been far too brief, he found himself liking Mike Nelson immediately, liking the teasing yet caring manner in which he interacted with the ’bots. His smile was warm and engaging, and the interest he’d shown in what Joel had to say seemed genuine. He could see himself meeting Mike for a drink after work, closing down the bar, walking home with him after they’d had a few too many and continuing their conversation all the way up to the front door.

If only he could come up with some way to communicate with the SOL. He’d given the idea some thought before, but even if he succeeded, he had to admit he had no idea what he would say.

_Hey, it’s me, Joel Robinson. You know, the guy who saved you all and then left you stranded. Sorry ’bout that. Anyway, what’s new with you?_

Yeah, _that_ was a great opener. Not that conversation came easily to him anyway, but still. What else was there to say?

_I miss you all every day. I wasn’t brave enough to risk it. I could have — should have — done better. I’m sorry I failed you. I hope you can forgive me._

Nope, _that_ was definitely out. All of it.

Well, maybe by the time he came up with a communication device, he’d have worked out what he was going to say. At any rate, a project would at least keep his ever-active mind busy, instead of just dwelling in his regret. Yes. Joel resolved that after closing tonight, he’d go home and start working on this. He sat up straighter, feeling better than he had in months now that he’d made up his mind about _something._

“Hey, boss?”

Joel looked up to see one of his cashiers, Kendra Davies, leaning on one arm against the doorway. Hired shortly after her sixteenth birthday, she was a high school junior and star lacrosse player who fit in shifts at the shop around her practice schedule. She was smart, hardworking and friendly, and Joel liked her quite a bit.

“Hey, Kendra,” he replied, grateful for the distraction. “Something I can do for you?”

Kendra was redoing her blue-streaked black ponytail, snapping the elastic as she answered him. “There’s a guy out front who wants to see you outside. Asked for you specifically.”

“Is there a problem?”

Kendra shook her head. “Weirdest thing — he came in, waited behind a couple people and didn’t even order anything, just asked if there was a Joel Robinson here. When I told him you were the manager, he asked to see you outside. And here we are.”

Joel frowned. This was…unusual. “Anything else?”

“Kind of. I watched him go back outside before I came here, and I swear there were some weird metal contraptions outside with him. I don’t know how to describe them. There was a red gumball machine — have you ever thought about putting one of those in here, by the way? I think I also saw a flashlight and a hockey mask on the others.” She stepped forward, oblivious to the stunned look on Joel’s face, lowering her voice. “I swear I didn’t come to work high today, but from the way those things were moving, they kind of looked like robots.”

“No, I believe you,” Joel finally managed, barely able to comprehend what she was telling him. “Is he blond and blue-eyed, with a strong jawline?”

Kendra side-eyed him under mascara-laden eyelashes. “ _That’s_ what you notice in a guy? Huh. Yeah, he is. Are you okay? You look kind of pale.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine,” Joel choked out, trying to breathe as he rose on shaky legs from the desk. “I’ll — I’ll be outside.” He rushed out the door, leaving a confused Kendra staring after him.

Joel picked up his pace as he sprinted through the shop, past wide-eyed employees and startled customers, all of whom seemed to vanish into the background as he pushed through the swinging glass doors. No sooner had he set foot in the parking lot than he found himself sprawling on the pavement under the weight of an asteroid crash — or four very excited robots.

“ _JOEL!_ ”

The shout was deafening in chorus, and yet it was the sweetest sound he’d ever heard. “Cambot. Gypsy. Tom. Crow…” he murmured, trying to move his arms from where Gypsy, Tom Servo and Crow were currently perched on them, desperate to hug them, feel them, make sure they were real. “I missed you all so much…”

Well, the pain now throbbing through the back of his head where it met the asphalt was certainly real, but he barely thought about it.

Cambot lifted his lens from where it was buried in Joel’s shoulder to give a series of triumphant-sounding beeps.

“You are _not_ his favorite, Cambot!” Joel heard Tom say somewhere above his head. “Just because he mentioned you first!”

“That’s right!” Crow added. “He saved the best for last — _me!”_

“Guys, guys…” Joel knew this could quickly get out of hand, and he wanted to at least be upright if it did. “I love you all the same, all right?”

“‘ _Guys!’_ ” Gypsy exclaimed indignantly; Joel was grateful her head was nowhere near his or he might actually have gone deaf. “What about _me?!_ ”

Joel laughed. “Oh, Gypsy, of course I love you, too. You’re my favorite lady.”

“And don’t you forget it, Joel Robinson!” Gypsy punctuated this directive by rubbing her head against his shoulder, somehow managing to avoid swallowing Cambot in the process.

“Oh, it’s so good to see you all again…wait.” Now that blood was starting to flow back to his head, Joel was beginning to realize just how strange and unexplained the whole situation was. His mind flooded with questions, but he decided to start with the obvious. “How did you guys get here, anyway? How did you get back to Earth?”

“I think I can answer that,” a male, human voice said.

Joel instantly recognized that voice. No…no way. How much more could he possibly take in one day?

“Mike?” he ventured, still not believing it. “Mike Nelson, right?”

There was a chuckle in response. “You remember me, huh? I hope that’s a good thing.”

As one, the ’bots gradually moved off of Joel, and as his vision cleared Joel found himself staring into a familiar face — one he’d only met once before, but had never been able to forget. Had never wanted to forget. Blond hair, blue eyes, hundred-watt smile…just as he remembered.

“It _is_ you.” Joel knew that was stupid, but for some reason it was all he could think of to say.

Mike didn’t seem to mind as he held out a hand. “Good to see you again, too. C’mon, guys, give him some breathing room.”

The ’bots obeyed and Mike helped Joel to his feet, while Tom pondered aloud if they could really come _back_ to Earth when they had never been there before. As Joel brushed some of the dirt off, he looked around, taking them all in. Yes, they were here, and real, and just as happy to see him as he was to see them, as if they’d never been apart.

How could he have just left them all behind — again?

He pushed that thought away as the ’bots crowded around him again, more gently this time, and he pulled them into a group hug. The fumbling and shoving between the four of them felt like a massage as he held them, unable to stop himself from laughing as they each clamored for his attention. “One at a time, you guys. There’s enough of me for all of you.”

He’d been back on Earth for several years now, but for the first time he was starting to feel like he was home.

Finally, he looked up at Mike, still standing off to the side. He was smiling, but Joel couldn’t quite read his expression. “I guess I’ve got you to thank for this?”

Mike shrugged. “In a way. Pearl, too. Kind of a long story.”

“Well, we’ll have time later.” Yes. They had time now. “Where did you come from? Are you staying here?”

“Not exactly. Crow, Tom, Cambot and I all came from Milwaukee together, and we swung by Madison to pick up Gypsy on the way here. This all came together so fast we didn’t really plan much. I was going to at least book a hotel, but _something_ happened to my credit cards…” Mike shot a suspicious glance at Tom and Crow, who suddenly became very interested in some nearby graffiti.

“So you don’t have anywhere to stay?”

“Aside from my car, no.”

“I know! I know!” Crow eagerly waved a hand in the air, trying to get their attention. “Tom can sleep in the trunk!”

“Great idea! And _you_ can sleep tied to the luggage rack,” Tom retorted.

Mike side-eyed them. “My car doesn’t have a luggage rack.”

“No,” Tom replied, “but it does have a roof.”

Joel held up his hands to quiet them. “Guys, guys, this is ridiculous. Why don’t you just stay with me?”

“Are you sure?” Mike asked. “We don’t want to impose —”

“Yes, we do!” Crow interrupted. Beside him, Tom could barely speak, bobbing as fiercely as a buoy in a hurricane in his excitement. Gypsy and Cambot were right there with him.

“Don’t be silly. You’re not imposing. It’s just me there. There’s not much room, but it’ll be fine. Do you have something to write on?”

Mike searched his pockets and found only a Snickers wrapper that he had forgotten to throw away. Joel grabbed a pen from his shirt pocket — he had long since learned the importance of always having a working pen handy — and wrote down his address.

“Here. I’m off in —” he checked his watch “— five more hours, so you can hang out there or find something else to do until then. Key’s under the fake rock.”

Mike pocketed the Snickers wrapper. “You have a fake rock in an apartment building?”

Joel shrugged. “The welcome mat was too obvious.” He looked at each of the ’bots in turn, smiling before giving them one last pat. “I have to get back to work. I’ll see you guys soon, okay?”

“Bye, Joel!” the ’bots chorused.

Mike nodded. “Thanks, Joel.” There was that smile again.

“No problem. See you later.” Joel had used that simple parting phrase more times than he could count, but at this moment it meant so much more. It wasn’t just a goodbye, it was a promise. A promise he never thought he’d be able to make, let alone keep, ever again.

The group of five began to walk towards a beat-up Saturn that looked like it would collapse into a mound of metal if someone sneezed on it. As they walked away, Joel heard Tom ask Crow, “Where did you hide his credit cards, anyway?”

“The toilet tank.”

“Crow!”

“What? He’ll never think to look for them there.”

“And he’ll never want to use them again after that, which means no more pay-per-view, so _nice going —”_

“Shut up, Tom! We’re here, aren’t we?”

Joel barely heard the rest of their argument as he watched them go in a daze. He stood there as they drove away, watching Tom and Crow wave to him from the backseat, Gypsy and Cambot bobbing between them. Slowly, he lifted his hand to wave back, feeling a grin spread over his face. He stayed in that spot long after the car had vanished from sight, staring in the direction it had gone.

He was startled back into awareness with a crash behind him.

Turning, he saw Kendra standing outside the shop, wide-eyed. She was wearing a denim jacket and had taken her hair down, its metallic blue tints shining brighter in the late-afternoon light. The clatter had come from the oversized purse she had just dropped by her feet, a few makeup items spilling out.

“Kendra?” He hadn’t even heard the door open.

“I — I was just letting you know I’m clocking out. My shift’s over…” She trailed off, looking him up and down. “Boss, maybe it’s none of my business, but what’s going on? You’re covered in dirt.”

“No, it’s okay, Kendra. I’ll explain later. You can go home.”

The teenager eyed him suspiciously as she retrieved her purse and Joel handed her the errant makeup. “You know, my mom doesn’t believe half of what I tell her about working here, anyway. I can’t wait to see what she’ll say about this.”

Before Joel could process that, a gray sedan pulled into the lot and Kendra ran over to it. Just in time, Joel called after her, “Wait, what do you tell her about working here?”

Kendra flashed a grin at him as she opened the passenger door. “Just that you’re the best boss in the world. And that I’ve never seen you smile like that before.”

With that, she jumped in the car and took off.

Quickly, Joel hurried back into the shop, ignoring the puzzled looks of some of the employees and customers as he rushed to his office. Rummaging through the piles of paper on his desk, he grabbed a marker and the calendar. He circled today’s date in bright red and wrote “REUNION” in the square.

So this was what was meant by “red letter day.”

Satisfying as that was to do, it almost felt unnecessary.

He wasn’t ever going to forget today.


	2. Seasons Change

_“It’s been so long since I found you, yet it seems like yesterday…”_

_~ “Seasons Change”, Exposé_

 

The next five hours were the longest of Joel’s life. He tried his best to keep it together, but several of his employees asked why he seemed so distracted. A few of the bolder ones dared to ask why he’d started grinning like an idiot, and could they possibly be let in on the joke?

“I’m seeing some old friends later,” he explained. And maybe — thinking of Mike — a new one, too.

Finally, closing time came, everything had been cleaned up, locked up and put away, and he was officially off duty. He practically bolted to his car as soon as he was done, tires screeching out of the parking lot as he drove home, completely disregarding things like speed limits on the way.

He arrived at his apartment building in record time; the elevator ride to the third floor seemed even slower than normal. Mike answered his knock on the apartment door with a much more tired smile than Joel had last seen; while six hours trapped in a car with the ’bots was already a lot to ask, five more hours alone in a one-bedroom apartment with four now very excited ’bots was like running a marathon with half-ton weights tied to his limbs. The ’bots, of course, immediately shoved Mike aside to glomp Joel once again.

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” Joel said as he picked himself up off the ground for the second time that day and walked in.

Mike shrugged, without resentment. “We waited a year. What’s a few more hours?”

 _We?_ Not _they_ , but _we?_

Joel didn’t have time to think about that as his creations immediately began crowding around him again, asking for something to eat. He didn’t have much in the way of fresh, non-processed food, but he threw together some grilled cheese and tomato soup after scouring the cupboards. How was it already time to buy groceries again?

There was barely room for two, let alone six, at Joel’s tiny kitchen table, so they sat in the living room instead, Joel and Mike on the couch with Tom and Crow on either side of them, Gypsy resting her head between them and Cambot hovering nearby. Bit by bit, Mike and the ’bots told the story of how the SOL had accidentally crashed on Earth; how Gypsy had struck out on her own to start her own business, ConGypsCo, which was now a runaway success; and how Crow, Tom and Cambot had moved in with Mike into a basement efficiency in Milwaukee, where they were now living. Joel listened with rapt attention, commenting and asking questions only as necessary.

As grateful as he was that things seemed to have turned out well for the five of them, he couldn’t help but wonder what kind of difference he might have made, had he planned better. Would they all still be together? Where would they live? What would they do?

Maybe now he would have the chance to find out.

“So what have _you_ been doing since we last saw you?” Mike asked him once their story was finished.

Joel swallowed the last bite of his sandwich, which suddenly felt like a dry chunk of plaster sliding down his throat.

“Um, not much. You know, just running the shop, that sort of thing. I finally got around to finishing _Knight Rider_ , too.”

Well, that was impressively lame. But it was safer than telling them the whole truth.

_Thinking about you all every single day._

“Ooh, ooh!” Gypsy nodded eagerly. “ _Knight Rider_! Isn’t that the show with —?” She was practically breathless with excitement.

Joel laughed. “Yes, Gypsy. Richard Basehart narrates every episode.”

Gypsy sighed happily. “Can we watch it tomorrow? Please?”

“Sure. How long are you all staying, anyway?”

Mike shrugged, smiling a little. “Depends. How long before you have to evict us?”

“Oh, Joel would _never_ ,” said Tom, hovering up to Joel’s shoulder.

“You got it, Tommy!” Crow added, swinging around Mike to move over to Joel. “So we’ll stay forever and ever and ever and ever…”

Joel barely listened as Tom joined in with, “And ever and ever and ever…”; even Cambot and Gypsy got into it, Cambot’s beeps sounding in time with the growing list of “ever”’s. Not needing to take a breath meant this could go on for quite a while. They might have been joking — one could never be sure with the ’bots — but having them with him again, for good…just the thought thrilled him. Staying in his hovel of an apartment wouldn’t be permanent, of course, but as long as they were all in one place, it didn’t matter where they were.

He glanced at Mike, who was listening to the three-part drone of “And ever and ever…” with an expression that was both annoyed and amused. Of course, Mike could stay with them too, if he wanted to. As long as the ’bots wanted him around. Anyone who would willingly drive six hours with the ’bots just so they could find their creator absolutely deserved them in his life — and vice versa.

_So much more than they deserve me._

Joel was roused from his thoughts by the sound of Mike’s voice. “Guys, guys, cut it out. Seriously, Joel, we can’t stay after tomorrow, unfortunately; I’m starting a new temp job in a few days.”

“But _Miiiiiiike!_ ” Crow whined. “Just because _you_ have to go, why can’t _we_ stay?”

Mike shrugged. “I’m okay with that —”

“Because you don’t love us anymore!” Tom unexpectedly wailed in response.

“Tommy, I’m sure that’s not true,” Joel said patiently. “I think Mike just wants to make sure I’m okay with it.” He looked at them all, smiling. “Which I am.”

The cheers the ’bots let out in response echoed off the walls; Joel couldn’t have cared less about the neighbors complaining (well, for now). Crow wrapped his arms around Joel’s leg and Tom pressed up against his back. Cambot perched on his shoulder and Gypsy rested her head on his, and for a few moments everything in Joel’s world felt absolutely perfect.

That is, until he looked at Mike.

Mike’s face had suddenly become a mask; his smile was nowhere near his eyes, and he seemed to be avoiding Joel’s gaze. “Good, good…that’s great.”

Joel might have only known him for less than twenty-four hours, but he knew one thing for sure: Mike Nelson was not a great actor.

The group surrounding him suddenly felt incomplete; he wanted to reach out, grab Mike’s hand and pull him into the fold beside him, surrounded by their robots, and _then_ everything would be perfect.

But he didn’t do that.

“Guys,” he began, “I’m sure Mike will still want to see you — you don’t have to choose between us. You can live wherever you want, whenever you want.”

He noticed Mike perk up at this, and couldn’t help feeling a little warmth in his chest.

“Hmmmmmmmm,” Tom said, with no real pretense of actually giving the matter any serious thought. “You know, Mike and I _were_ planning to watch the Stuart Gordon marathon on WTMJ next Sunday…”

“And it _is_ nice living on the bus line in Milwaukee,” Crow admitted.

“And I should really be back in Madison soon. ConGypsCo won’t run itself. Not yet, anyway,” Gypsy added.

Cambot gave a few beeps; Tom turned to look at him. “Really, Cambot? ‘And Scarecrow’s brain?’ That’s your brilliant contribution?”

Cambot bobbed in what was probably intended as a shrug.

“We’ll talk about it more tomorrow, okay?” Mike said, stifling a yawn. “Right now, I think we should all get some rest.”

There was the obligatory round of protests from the ’bots at this suggestion, but Joel and Mike simply ignored them as they cleared the dishes and Joel retrieved an extra pillow and blanket for Mike. Unfortunately, Mike and the ’bots would have to share the living room — Joel’s bedroom was more like a closet — but Gypsy and Cambot settled down quickly, and Mike assured Joel he could easily sleep through anything Crow and Tom might come up with before they wore themselves out, whenever that might be. That was one side effect of having lived with them for so long.

“Hey, Joel?” Mike said from the couch, just before Joel went into his room.

“Yeah, Mike?”

“Thanks.”

“For what?”

The lights were out, but he could hear the smile in Mike’s voice. “Everything.”

Well, that just about covered it, Joel supposed.

“You’re welcome,” he replied after a moment, before going into his room and closing the door.

 o~O~o

Despite how tired he was, Joel couldn’t fall asleep. He rolled onto his side, looking at the bedroom door and hardly believing Mike and the ’bots were on the other side of it. This time, they didn’t have mad scientists watching their every move. They could go anywhere and do anything they wanted — together.

And they had wanted to find him.

Best of all, the ’bots all seemed happy and well-cared for. From the way they interacted with Mike, it was clear they liked and respected him, despite the hard time they insisted on giving him. That was just their way. Joel couldn’t have picked a better companion for them himself.

Mike might have been forced to participate in the experiments each week, but he certainly hadn’t been obligated to care for the ’bots, and yet he had. He had gone along with everything they had thrown at him and challenged him with, and had given back with just as much enthusiasm, and more than enough resistance to keep them interested. Joel might have been their creator, but Mike had chosen to be their friend, if in a slightly twisted sense of the word. No wonder they had opted to stay with him instead of finding Joel when they returned to Earth.

He pushed aside the twinge of jealousy accompanying that thought. After what he had done — or more accurately, _not_ done — he didn’t have the right to envy anyone. The ’bots were happy and wanted to spend time with him again. That was what mattered.

As for Mike, Joel had to admit splitting time with the ’bots wasn’t strictly for their sake. Even if the ’bots had wanted to stay with him, Joel knew he would have made excuses to try to see Mike again. It wasn’t just the connections they shared through their…unique experiences. He was relieved that his first impressions of Mike had been accurate, and the feeling seemed to be mutual.

_No hard feelings about me stranding you in space, huh? Good._

_…I swear I didn’t mean to._

Great. As if he weren’t already having enough trouble sleeping.

Joel rolled onto his back, staring up at the glow-in-the-dark stars plastered to his ceiling, laid out in a pattern he’d painstakingly recreated after spending hours poring over star maps. No, he wasn’t ten years old anymore, but after he’d finally settled down back on Earth, he found himself missing the view from his room on the SOL. Sure, it got boring after a few hours, but on nights when he couldn’t sleep — which came more often than he wanted to admit — there was something strangely comforting about looking out the window at the vastness of space, becoming that ten-year-old boy again who’d stared through a telescope at a black sky flecked with white, brimming with dreams and possibilities. Now, that boy was all grown up, and looking at the stars from the other side. The glow-in-the-dark stars were his attempt to replicate that feeling. He had to admit it did more to help him sleep than any drugstore remedy had ever been able to.

His gaze slid along the template of his corner of the universe, tracing designs and constellations he knew by heart. What might his life in space have been like if he’d had a companion to see it all with — a human one? Sure, the ’bots were everything to him, but as much as they cared for him, they drove him up the wall by design; how else would he have stayed sane? No, what if he’d had someone like Mike to share it with? Would it have made the experience worse, or better? Would they have eventually driven each other mad, or would they have ended up the best of friends — or something in-between?

Or would they have become…more?

Joel gulped as that thought unexpectedly popped into his head. What the… why was he even considering that? No chance, no way. Not for him. Never would have happened.

…Right?

He shook his head, rolling back onto his side and closing his eyes. Well, whatever _might_ have happened in some other hypothetical lifetime, he was looking forward to whatever was going to happen now. Even though it certainly wouldn’t include, well, _that_.

His mind’s last, treacherous thought before sleep finally overtook him was a startling new possibility, yet another thing he hadn’t considered.

Maybe it would have happened had he _stayed_ , instead.

o~O~o

The next day, Joel told his assistant manager he’d be taking a few hours off in the afternoon; luckily, it was a slow day and he wouldn’t be missed for a bit. He would have liked to take the whole day off, but that didn’t seem fair to the other employees on such short notice, no matter how much they might have insisted otherwise.

Central Park of Maple Grove was just a ten-minute drive away from the shop; Joel and Mike stopped to pick up coffee from a little café on the way. They got to the park and made their way to the playground, where they turned the ’bots loose.

“A few dozen grade-school kids should cancel out four robots, right?” Joel asked as they walked to a bench with cups in hand, the sounds of laughing children filling the air.

“I’ll trust your math on that one,” Mike replied. He turned to call out, “Crow, don’t go too high on the climbing wall, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, Mr. ‘I’ll have a slice of mile-high meringue. I’ll wait!’” Crow retorted, tossing his beak dismissively before darting off to the climbing wall.

Joel looked questioningly at Mike, who smiled and shrugged. “Long story.”

Joel smirked as they sat down. “Or is that a ‘tall tale’?”

Mike chuckled. “Maybe it’s a little of both.”

The two of them sat in silence for a few minutes, sipping their coffee and watching the ’bots play, tumbling down the slides, scaling the wall, flying on the swings, and joining in games with the other children, who they seemed to fit right in with. Strangely, to Joel, the silence didn’t feel uncomfortable. Normally he felt compelled to fill in lulls in conversation with anything that came to mind, relevant or otherwise, and as awkward as the resulting talk might be, it was less scary to deal with than the silence. But now, with Mike, he hadn’t once felt that urge. They’d only just met for the second time, and yet somehow he felt as if they had been doing this for years. How was that possible?

Moreover, why did this feel like something he had been waiting for? How could you be waiting for something you never even thought about wanting?

_Maybe because you never knew what it was like to have it at all._

“It’s nice to listen to kids playing, isn’t it?” Mike interrupted Joel’s musings without seeming to realize he had done so, still watching the ’bots thoughtfully.

“Yeah, it is,” Joel said. He looked at Mike. “Ever thought about having any of your own?”

Mike scoffed. “Maybe once, a _long_ time ago.” He gestured to the playground. “Now, I’ve got three, and one out of the nest. I think that’s more than enough for my age.”

Joel laughed. “I think we can both agree on that.”

Mike turned to look at him. “Thanks, by the way.”

“For what?”

“For sharing them with me.” Mike glanced briefly at the ground before continuing. “You didn’t have to do that.”

Joel shrugged. “They can do whatever they want — and often do,” he added, as Mike nodded knowingly. “If they want you around, I’m happy to have you in their lives. I think _I_ should be the one thanking _you_.”

“Really? What for?”

“For taking such good care of them when I…couldn’t.” It was Joel’s turn to look at the ground, flicking the rim of his cup with his thumbnail. “ _You_ didn’t have to do _that_.”

Mike shrugged. “Nothing to it.”

“Uh-huh.” Joel looked at him skeptically. “I hope they didn’t give you too hard a time.”

“Are you kidding? After what happened, that was exactly what I needed. And now, I can’t imagine my life without them.”

Joel said nothing, but his face must have given away more than he meant to. Mike winced slightly as he realized what he had just said.

“Oh, right. Sorry. I’m sure not having them around was even harder for you.”

“Yeah. But it’s okay.” Joel shrugged. He didn’t like the way the conversation was heading. “We’re back together now. That’s what matters.”

“You know,” Mike said, staring briefly into his coffee, “I have to admit I was a little nervous about seeing you again.”

Joel stared in surprise. “What? Why?” He was pretty sure that if someone came up with a thousand words to describe him, _intimidating_ would not be one of them.

“Well…” Mike shifted in his seat. “When things settled down after we got back, I thought about trying to find you. A lot, actually.”

Joel almost fell off the bench. It wasn’t just the ’bots? _Mike_ had wanted to see him, too?

“It was Tom and Crow who finally got me to do it,” Mike continued, oblivious. “I still don’t know where they hid all my socks or how they got a brass band at four a.m., but they talked me into it.”

Joel chuckled. “They can be pretty persuasive, in their own way.”

Mike smiled. “Yeah.” He paused, his look turning serious. “Which is why I was a little afraid you might want to take them from me.”

“Take them from you?” Joel was shocked. “Mike, I’ll never take them from you as long as they want to see you.”

“Yeah, I know that now.” Mike fiddled with his cup. “But Joel, even if I _knew_ you would take them, I would have still tried to find you.”

Joel wasn’t surprised, but was still touched. Before he could answer, Mike looked him in the eye, with a solemnity Joel hadn’t seen before.

“Joel, to be completely honest…finding you wasn’t just for their sakes.”

Joel blinked. Of all the things he had thought Mike might say… He sat there, stunned, unsure of what to do with this new information.

“Really?”

Oh, _that_ was a brilliant response.

Mike didn’t seem to mind as he nodded, smiling a little.

A cry from the playground immediately caught their attention.

“ _Jooooooooel!_ Tom’s sitting on me and won’t get off!”

“ _Miiiiiiiike!_ Crow’s under my skirt and won’t get out!”

Joel and Mike looked over to see Tom and Crow in the middle of the playground, having abandoned their games, locked in a squabble as other children cheered them on. For a ’bot who could hover, Tom could be surprisingly heavy when he centered his weight, as he was now doing on top of Crow’s chest.

“We better go break it up.” Mike rose and headed toward the growing circle of children.

“Uh, yeah,” Joel quickly agreed as he followed.

Still, even as they separated Tom and Crow, Joel found himself wondering about what Mike had said.

Why had Mike wanted to find him?

o~O~o

Once they left the park, Joel returned to work while Mike and the ’bots went on a self-guided tour of Osseo. After Joel got home, they had Chinese takeout for dinner while watching _Knight Rider_ , as promised. Of course, riffing was inevitable, though at Gypsy’s insistence they had to be quiet whenever Richard Basehart was narrating. During dinner, Joel and Mike discussed how they were going to manage joint custody of the ’bots. It was all going to be very informal and flexible, with no real schedule or routine, but Joel was glad he and Mike were on the same page about their arrangement. There wasn’t much negotiation or compromise involved, to his relief.

Finally, when the dishes were cleared and the ’bots had (mostly) settled down, Joel and Mike got ready for bed. Joel was expecting a busy day at the shop, and Mike had a long drive early the next morning, which included dropping Gypsy off in Madison. Crow, Tom and Cambot would be staying with Joel as long as they liked.

Joel had just finished changing into pajamas when there was a knock on his bedroom door. He opened it to find Mike standing there, also in pajamas.

“Hey, do you need something?”

“Uh, not really. But kind of, I guess.” Mike pulled at a loose thread on his shirt for a moment, rubbing it between his fingers.

Joel was puzzled. “What do you mean?”

“Look, feel free to tell me no, you’re an idiot, go away, but…I wanted to ask you this now. We’ll be rushing out early tomorrow and I wasn’t sure about asking you before.”

Now Joel was curious _and_ confused. “Mike, what is it?”

Mike let go of the thread and looked up at him, managing a nervous smile. “Can I…hug you?”

Joel blinked. _This_ was unexpected. “Um, sure…but why?”

Mike shrugged. “You saved my life, saved my sanity with the ’bots, and you’ve been much nicer to me than you had any need to be. I don’t think a handshake covers all that.”

Joel froze; right away, he knew how he wanted to respond, but for some reason he couldn’t make the words come out. Seconds that felt like hours ticked by as he tried to get his mouth to cooperate with his brain.

It was seeing Mike’s face begin to falter, his smile begin to fade, that spurred him into action, and he didn’t know if it was his brain or heart doing the talking. “Of course, Mike. Come here.”

Mike’s smile instantly returned, brighter than before, as he moved into Joel’s arms. As they hugged for the first time, Joel found himself in a warm embrace, strong yet soft, firm yet reassuring. It was the kind of hug that made him believe everything really would be okay, that as long as he was in Mike’s arms nothing else mattered. He moved a little bit closer, inhaled the spice of Mike’s aftershave, memorized the gentle press of Mike’s fingertips on his back.

It was over much too quickly. As Mike released him and stepped back, he was still smiling, but he seemed to be a little off-axis, as if he was trying to figure out what to say. For that matter, so was Joel.

Before Joel could say anything, Mike seemed to think better of it and spoke.

“Good night, Joel.”

“Good night, Mike.”

Joel closed the door and got into bed, looking up at the glowing stars as he pulled his extra blanket up around him.

It was futile. No blanket on Earth could compare to that hug.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Crow’s comment to Mike about the meringue is a reference to the first host segment of 803. But of course you already knew that. MSTies are a smart, smart bunch (and generally very lovely people ^_^). Thank you to everyone who’s read so far! I hope you’re still enjoying it. :)_


	3. I Can Dream About You

_“Climbing up from down here below where the street sees me lonely for you…”_

_~ “I Can Dream About You”, Dan Hartman_

 

For the next couple months, Joel and Mike’s arrangement worked surprisingly well. Tom, Crow and Cambot alternated between Osseo and Milwaukee as they pleased, with Gypsy joining them whenever she could get away from work. There were the usual pitfalls of joint custody — belongings left at the wrong apartment and so forth — but they managed to work through those obstacles quickly and (mostly) amicably. After so long apart, the six of them had no desire to spend much time fighting (over serious topics, at least). Joel and Mike took turns making the drive, always staying overnight since driving twelve hours in one day wasn’t something either of them was keen to do, and both agreed they had no desire to have the ’bots make the trek on their own.

Still, even if they’d only been ten minutes apart, Joel would have been happy to spend more time with Mike anyway. When the ’bots were in bed or otherwise occupied, the two of them would often find a movie to riff, or just sit and talk. They stuck to basic getting-to-know-you topics — their childhoods, dumb high school stories, workplace tales, discussing favorite movies, music and TV shows (Joel was quick to reassure Mike that, yes, his taste in movies would eventually return to something resembling mainstream ideas of good and bad — after a year or two). Maybe it was just light chatting, but Joel always enjoyed their conversations. Mike’s quick wit kept him laughing, and Mike always listened attentively to everything Joel had to say, even when Joel’s tendency to ramble reared its head. Not once did they run out of things to talk about.

Despite all the talking they did, Joel never brought up the question that still lingered from that first visit: why had Mike wanted to find him? If asked, he would have claimed they had so many other things to discuss, it just never came up. He certainly wasn’t avoiding the topic. Nope.

With the ’bots back in his life, the shop doing well, and befriending Mike, for the first time in years Joel started to feel as if everything was finally coming together for him. He had no reason to want to change any of it, six-hour drives and all.

Unsurprisingly, it was the ’bots who started him thinking about doing so.

Early one Friday morning in June, Joel was getting ready to take Tom and Crow back to Milwaukee after a week with him. The plan was to leave Tom with Mike so they and Gypsy could go to Polish Fest, while Cambot and Crow would come back with him for another week. Though it would be brief, Joel couldn’t wait for all of them to be together again.

Shame it couldn’t happen more often. Still, at least they were only a few hundred miles apart, not a few thousand. The drive wasn’t that bad compared to having to take a plane to see each other. He and Mike had tried flying between their homes precisely once, and had swiftly agreed to stick to driving. It might have been faster, but even if the tickets weren’t insanely expensive, flying with the ’bots was not something either of them ever planned on doing again. (Assuming, of course, that they hadn’t all ended up on the no-fly list after Crow’s meal cart incident, or Tom hiding in the overhead compartments to jump out at unsuspecting passengers. Or both.)

“Tommy, Crow, are you ready?” Joel grabbed his keys from the hook by the door, overnight bag in hand. “We have to get going —”

There were muffled giggles behind him.

Joel stopped in his tracks. _That_ was never a good sign. Slowly, he did an about-face, careful not to move an inch out of place lest he accidentally spring some sort of trap.

To his relief, when he finally turned around, Tom and Crow hadn’t covered the living room in mousetraps again, or tied the laces of his shoes together (how they had managed to accomplish this when neither had grip or dexterity was beyond him; clearly his creations had surpassed their creator). No, instead Tom and Crow were standing (or hovering) behind him just as normal, save for a couple small differences.

Crow was wearing a plastic goldfish bowl upside-down on his head, the bottom of which (now on top of his head) was painted red. That was startling, but not nearly as much as the black-and-white striped skirt around his waist that was clearly designed for a four-year-old child, not a robot. (Then again, with Crow, sometimes there was no difference between the two.) Tom, on the other hand, had yellow ping pong balls with black diamonds drawn in the center duct-taped to the front of his dome, which was much more disturbing than one might have imagined it would be. He was hovering a little lower than normal, which might have been due to the extra ounces added by the gold-painted bowling pin and hockey mask crudely duct-taped to the front and back of his dome, respectively.

Joel had no idea whether to back away slowly or demand to know what was going on. He decided on a middle-of-the-road approach.

“Tom, Crow,” he said slowly, looking at each of them in turn, “what’s going on?”

Tom scoffed. “Don’t you know your own creations, Joel? I’m Crow, not Tom!”

“Well, he’s not _your_ real father,” Crow said scornfully. “I’m Tom, not Crow.”

Joel held back a sigh. They had a long drive ahead and were already running late. He was tempted to just pick them both up and take them out to the car, but thought better of it. Why make the drive even longer? Besides, he had to admit he wanted to see where they were going with this.

“Um, okay, you two,” he said after a minute’s thought. “This is very…creative of both of you, but aren’t you a little early? Halloween’s not for a few more months.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Joel!” Tom rebuked him. “This has nothing to do with Halloween.”

Well, there went all of Joel’s possible explanations. “What are you doing then, Tom?”

“I’m _Crow!_ ” Tom insisted. “ _He’s_ Tom.”

“Fine.” Joel never ceased to be amazed at the reserves of patience he could draw on in times like this. “Crow,” he said, looking at Tom, and trying not to recoil at the ping pong balls, “what are you two doing?”

“Do you know who’s who?” Crow asked, flouncing in place; he seemed to enjoy the way the skirt rustled around his knees.

“You just told me,” Joel said slowly. “You’re Tom —” he pointed at Crow “— and you’re Crow,” he finished, indicating Tom.

“For God’s sake, Joel!” Tom said, exasperated. “ _I’m_ Tom. _He’s_ Crow.”

Maybe watching those Abbott and Costello films had been a terrible idea. “Guys, whoever you are, we really have to go.”

“Maybe so,” Crow-as-Tom said. “But…who are you going to leave in Milwaukee for Polish Fest?”

“It would be a shame if you drove all that way just to leave the wrong ’bot with Mike,” Tom-as-Crow said.

“Yeah, and I — Crow, I mean — won’t want to go to Polish Fest.” Crow shook his head vigorously, the goldfish bowl sliding around. “Crow and kielbasa do _not_ get along.”

“And I — I mean, Tom — would hate to miss the vodka tastings,” Tom added.

“Tom is still not allowed to go to the vodka tastings,” Joel said dryly.

“Either way, are you _positive_ that I’m Tom?” Crow asked.

Joel sighed. “Yes.”

“You know, I hope you’re right,” Tom said. “You wouldn’t want to drive three hundred miles just to bring the wrong ’bot back to Osseo, would you?”

“Then you’d have to drive me — or him — back right away,” Crow added.

“Tom’s _really_ looking forward to seeing Almighty Vinyl with Mike tomorrow night,” Tom said. He tilted towards Joel, trying not to overbalance with the mask and pin. “You wouldn’t want him to miss that, would you?”

Joel was about to respond when something Tom had said tripped a wire in his brain. _With Mike._

The costumes…the attempted identity switch…leaving the wrong ’bot…suddenly everything made a strange amount of sense.

He folded his arms. “Guys, is all this because we watched _The Parent Trap_ last night?”

Tom and Crow exchanged badly-disguised looks of surprise before immediately turning back to Joel. “Of course not, Joel! Not at all,” said Crow. “We’re just having some fun, that’s all.”

“Yeah,” Tom quickly added. “Boy, we really had you going, didn’t we?”

“Yes, you did,” Joel said, unable to hold back a smile. “You two could be twins, you know that? Actually, I suppose you kind of are.”

“Well, as much fun as that was,” Tom said, shaking vigorously from side to side, “I can’t _wait_ to get this bowling pin off.”

“Hey, this goldfish bowl’s no picnic, either,” Crow retorted. “I must say, though…” He mimicked Tom’s movements, the skirt swishing around his legs. “I do like the skirt.”

“Can I borrow it when you’re done?” Tom asked.

“Guys, guys, let’s get going,” Joel said quickly. “Why don’t you keep everything on so we can have some fun with Mike later?”

When they were finally on the road, Tom and Crow getting into their usual disagreements in the backseat over who poked who, Joel found himself lost in thought. He’d done the drive so many times now he could practically do it in his sleep.

So Tom and Crow had concocted their little scheme in the…hope that Joel would leave the wrong ’bot with Mike and have to drive all the way back. He suspected they’d be trying this same trick on Mike before the next visit (and knowing Mike, he was sure there was a _slight_ chance of Mike actually being fooled for a second). Somehow, he sensed there was more to their plan than just messing with him, for once. Especially if they’d come up with it after watching _The Parent Trap_.

Tom and Crow would never outright _say_ they wanted to spend more time together as a family (and really, what else were they but a family, if a rather unconventional one?). If either of them did, he’d immediately check their circuits. No, that ridiculous display was how they’d convey that message, whether or not they knew Joel would understand. Of course he would.

Joel sighed as he changed lanes. While their current arrangement was functional — far more than it had any right to be — it was far from ideal. Mike had never said so, but Joel knew he wished they could all have more time together. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t possible right now.

Or was it?

Joel sat up straight, hitting his brakes just in time to avoid rear-ending the car in front of him. He gave an apologetic smile to the passenger who turned around to glare at him, then started thinking. There had been one idea at the back of his mind, but he’d pushed it aside, concentrating on time with the ’bots, working, and getting to know Mike. Then, as he and Mike had become friends, the idea had persisted. Now, as he deliberated further during the drive ahead, he began to feel that maybe, just maybe, it would work out.

Tom and Crow would get their wish.

o~O~o

They made good time to Milwaukee; Mike and Cambot were waiting to greet them in the parking lot, as always making the wait worthwhile. Of course, they pretended (or at least, Joel _hoped_ they pretended) to be fooled by Tom and Crow’s disguises. Gypsy would be joining them later that evening, after she finished work. With ConGypsCo’s quarterly report due for filing soon, she’d been putting in more and more hours, and Joel continually had to remind her not to work too hard. Of course, Gypsy only worked as hard as she played, and judging by the fun she had with Tom, Crow and Cambot every time they were together, he had a feeling he had nothing to worry about.

Dinner that evening was ramen with chicken nuggets and barbecue sauce; not a combination Joel might ever have tried on his own, but he had to admit it was actually pretty good. Tom and Crow, of course, scarfed down their portions before running off to play in the living room with Cambot, leaving Joel and Mike at the table. Maybe, Joel thought, now would be a good time to bring up his idea.

“How’s work been?” he asked Mike.

“Eh, not great,” Mike admitted. “Temp work’s kinda dried up for a bit. We’re okay for now, but if this keeps up for more than a month or so, sacrifices will have to be made.”

“ _Human_ sacrifices,” Tom piped up. Joel and Mike ignored him.

“No luck with the job hunt?” Joel asked.

“Not really. Doesn’t help that my résumé has a five-year gap that I can’t explain. What am I supposed to put in there? Test subject? Film critic? Variety show host?”

Joel shrugged. “Prisoner? Asylum inmate?”

“More honest, yes, but not as attractive.” Mike coughed, glancing over to where Tom and Crow were now attempting to do headstands against the wall. “Maybe ‘single parent’ would work.”

“Hey, whose fault was it that you _stayed_ single?” Crow asked accusingly, the skirt he’d now been wearing all day flopping into his eyes as he pushed himself onto his head.

Mike rolled his eyes. “Crow —”

“Oh, don’t go blaming _me_ again, Mike! I wasn’t the one who —”

Joel automatically tuned out the argument as he leaned back in his chair, sipping his water and considering one last time, before deciding to go for it.

“Mike,” he said, “I know someone who’d want to hire you.”

Mike instantly stopped mid-sentence in his reply to Crow and turned to Joel. “Really? Who?”

Joel smiled. “Me.”

Mike stared at him for a moment in surprise; even Tom and Crow clattered to the floor, abandoning their headstand efforts to listen.

“Joel,” Mike finally said, “are you sure? I mean, I’m just a temp.”

“I am. I meant it a year ago and I mean it now.” Joel hoped _a year ago_ didn’t sound nearly as strangled as he thought it did. “You’ll be great.”

“Wow.” Mike sat back, quiet, as he seemed to process what had just happened. When he looked up at Joel, his smile was bright even in the apartment’s poor lighting. “Thank you, Joel.”

Joel nodded, smiling back. “Of course.”

“So…how’s this going to work?” Mike asked after a moment. “I mean, the temp agency sends me to some pretty out-of-the-way places sometimes —”

“Like outer space!” Tom piped up. At the withering stare Mike gave him in response, he asked, “What? It’s funny because it’s true.”

Crow patted his arm. “Don’t worry, Tommy. _I_ thought so.”

“Anyway,” Mike said, ignoring them once again, “I don’t think a six-hour one-way daily commute is going to work in the long term.”

Joel shrugged. “Of course not. I would never expect you to do that. But there’s an easy solution, if you’re okay with it.”

Mike tilted his head. “What’s that?”

Joel wondered briefly whether Mike really didn’t know the answer or if he just wanted to hear Joel say it. He took a deep breath. “You can come live with me.”

Three robots and one human stared at him in response. There was a full minute of rare, glorious silence in the apartment.

All at once, Tom, Crow and Cambot immediately leapt onto Mike, clambering at him and begging him to accept (after Polish Fest was over, of course). Mike gently eased them off him as Joel waited in nervous anticipation.

“You don’t have to, of course,” he quickly added, once Mike’s attention was back on him. “You and the ’bots can live wherever you want and we can keep doing what we’ve been doing.”

Mike shook his head. “Joel, that’s not it. I’ve — I’ve been thinking a lot about all of us being together.”

“You have?” It was Joel’s turn to stare.

Mike nodded as Crow and Tom made exaggerated gagging sounds.

“I think I’m going to need an insulin shot,” Tom whispered loudly to Crow.

Mike, of course, didn’t pay any attention. “Joel, it’s just…why would you ask me to live with you? You don’t really know me.”

Joel immediately shook his head. “Mike, that’s not true. I’ve spent the last couple months getting to know you. And even if I hadn’t —” he gestured to the ’bots “— _they’ve_ known you for years. They don’t seem to mind you too much. That’s good enough for me.”

“That’s right, Mike,” Crow agreed. “You’re not a serial killer or anything. Well, not in this galaxy, anyway.”

Mike rolled his eyes. “You’re never going to let the whole ‘destroyer of worlds’ thing go, are you?”

“Not as long as you keep flossing over the kitchen sink,” Tom said. “Seriously, that’s just gross.”

“Says the ’bot with his own underwear collection,” Mike said dryly.

“Or leaving your used napkins around in case you might need them later,” Crow piped up.

“Crow, it’s not ‘used’ if you only —”

Joel had a feeling this might go on for a while if he let it. “Okay, okay. That’s enough, you guys.” He looked at Mike. “We might have to talk about the flossing thing, but do you want to move in with me? You and the ’bots?”

“I don’t think it’s _them_ who need convincing,” Mike replied. As Joel looked at him, beginning to feel anxious, a grin slowly spread over Mike’s face. “And for that matter, neither do I.”

“So that’s a ‘yes’?” Crow asked.

Mike looked down at him and the others, smiling. “Yes, Crow, it is.” He looked back at Joel. “Get ready to move, guys.”

Joel felt his own grin cracking his face as the ’bots cheered. For a few moments he couldn’t really believe it. Just like that — he, Mike and the ’bots were all going to be together.

“Good. That’s settled, then,” was all he could say. It wasn’t much, but he couldn’t find more words for the joy he was starting to feel.

“So how are we going to do this?” Mike asked. “You have any particular place in mind? I don’t think we can all stay in your place.”

“Yeah, that wasn’t my plan. My lease is up next month,” Joel said. “There are a lot of nice two-bedroom places around town, though. We can go look together when you bring Tom and Gypsy back.”

“Two bedrooms?” Mike repeated.

“Yeah. Three bedrooms aren’t easy to come by in my area, at least at a reasonable price. I’m not sure we’ll be able to afford anything bigger just yet.”

“We’re not going to have to sleep on the living room floor, are we?” Crow whined.

“Of _course_ not,” Joel said patiently. He looked at Mike. “If you’re okay with it, we can share a room. The ’bots can have the other one.”

Joel ignored the ’bots’ tittering as he observed Mike’s reaction. To his relief, Mike didn’t look uncomfortable or uncertain, just puzzled. “Are you sure?” he asked hesitantly. “I mean, I can sleep on the couch or —”

Joel shook his head. “Mike, if we’re living together, that’s just silly. I can sleep on an air mattress or something. We’ll figure it out.”

“Okay.” Mike nodded. “I’m fine with sharing a room.”

“Joel?” Crow tapped Joel’s leg; Joel hadn’t even realized he’d come over next to him. “Can we go get ice cream?”

“Why not?” Joel laughed. “Come on, you guys. Let’s go celebrate!”

As three very happy ’bots ran laughing for the door, Joel stood up from the table. As he did so, he caught Mike’s eye.

He swallowed, suddenly feeling like he had to sit back down. There was something different about the gleam in Mike’s gaze, the softness of his smile that lit up those dark blue eyes. This wasn’t the expression of gratitude he had seen earlier. No, this was warmer, kinder…more affectionate, somehow. Mike was looking at him now like he was the only person in the world, the greatest person in the world. The best person in _his_ world.

Inexplicably, Joel felt his heart lurch.

When was the last time anyone had looked at him like that?

He did his best to smile back — though not for lack of happiness — and went to get his shoes.

o~O~o

Gypsy arrived shortly after they got back to the apartment; Tom and Crow nearly knocked her over at the door, babbling about the great news they had and arguing over who got to tell her. Fortunately, Joel was smart enough to be sitting down when he asked Gypsy what she thought about coming to live with them. Even so, her tackle of joy nearly buried him in the couch cushions. She’d been grateful to have the chance to live on her own while starting her business, but she missed her family. Now that ConGypsCo was up and running, she didn’t need to be in the office every day and could do much of her work remotely, though Joel wasn’t sure how much work she’d be able to accomplish at home if Tom and Crow were there, too. She even said she might open a smaller branch office closer to home, in Minneapolis.

All of his kids back together under one roof. Joel should have been the happiest he’d ever been. And while he was certainly thrilled to have them home — hell, had it really been home without them? — he still couldn’t shake the guilt that ate away at him like termites at a foundation.

They should never have _had_ to come home. They should have always been with him, unless they had wanted to leave. He’d never given them that choice.

He wasn’t doing all this strictly out of guilt. Mike would be a great fit for the job, he was sure of it, and of course he would be happy to have the ’bots with him. Even if the ’bots and Mike weren’t a package deal (much as they might claim otherwise), the fact that Mike was someone whose company he genuinely enjoyed was just a nice bonus.

Still, it would have been a lie to say guilt wasn’t a factor. The least he could do was give Mike a job and all of them a place to live. But he was far from done trying to chase away the ghosts of the past with present kindness.

Maybe, if he kept trying, one day he’d make it up to them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _We almost have a title! *g*_   
>  _I must say, after years of writing characters who are intelligent and competent, it is surprisingly refreshing to write someone who is…not. We love you, Mike, but not for your brains. ;)_   
>  _Polish Fest is a real annual festival in Milwaukee, btw. We have something similar where I live, though I have yet to go myself. (I know, I know…someday. Unlike Crow, I do love kielbasa.) Almighty Vinyl is also a real Wisconsin-based ’70s classic rock band. The more you know!_


	4. Foolish Heart

_“Foolish heart, hear me calling. Stop before you start falling…”_

_~ “Foolish Heart”, Steve Perry_

 

It took a few weekends, but eventually Joel, Mike and the ’bots found an apartment they could all agree on. Fortunately, Mike had a month-to-month tenancy, so he had no lease to wait out. Before the end of July, he gave his notice at the temp agency and began the process of moving his, Tom’s, Crow’s and Cambot’s remaining belongings to Joel’s place for temporary storage. Over the next few weekends, he and Joel managed to transport enough that the rest could easily fit in a small U-Haul (if not in Joel’s apartment, which now seemed more cramped than ever). For her part, Gypsy couldn’t get to Minnesota fast enough, making the trip whenever she could spare a few days to begin moving some of her things. Once they were settled into the new place, she was going to begin looking for space for ConGypsCo’s Minneapolis branch office.

At the end of July, when Joel’s lease was finally up, they packed up everything and moved into their new apartment, which was roomier than both Joel’s and Mike’s old places combined had been. The move ate up two days, but by the time everything was unpacked (or, at least, out of the moving van), the six of them breathed a collective sigh of relief. The ’bots weren’t entirely thrilled about having to share one tiny room between the four of them, but Joel reassured them this place was meant as a stopgap, until they could afford something better. Unlike Joel, Mike had nothing keeping him in Milwaukee, and the thought of all six of them crammed into Joel’s old apartment until they could buy a house had not been appealing. With the rent split between him and Mike now, he’d actually be able to start saving a little.

As for Mike and himself, Joel had gotten the air mattress by way of a coin toss. He just hoped Mike hadn’t realized the toss was rigged. The mattress was actually quite comfortable, placed off to the side next to a wall so Mike could get up without having to worry about stepping on him.

Once the move was taken care of, Joel brought Mike to the Hot Fish Shop to show him the ropes. Of course, they were smack in the middle of the busy season, and Mike’s training was more or less baptism by fire, but he was a quick learner and got a handle on the basics relatively easily. Joel still needed to be on the floor to help out, at least for the first few weeks, but he didn’t mind an excuse to get out of the office. Fortunately, Mike also got along well with the other employees, including Kendra, who was working more often now that school was out. At one point, she confided in Joel that she and some of the others were glad Mike was there.

“Why? Because he helps out?”

“Well, yeah, and he’s really fun, but…” Kendra looked around and leaned a bit closer, her dark eyes brightened by a conspiratorial gleam. “Anyone who makes _you_ smile that much is someone worth keeping around.”

Before Joel could ask her to elaborate, she smiled, said she had to get back to work, and dashed back to the register.

Joel shook his head. If only he could build a device that explained the minds of teenage girls. He’d be a billionaire.

o~O~o

A few weeks after they’d all moved in together, Joel found himself lying awake on a warm night. The temperature was comfortable enough for August, and he’d had a busy day at work, but for some reason he just couldn’t sleep. He tossed and turned for a bit, trying to find the perfect position, before finally giving up and resigning himself to staring at the ceiling. Judging by the rustling coming from Mike’s bed, he wasn’t alone.

“Can’t sleep?” he heard Mike ask.

Joel rolled over to face him. “You either, huh?”

Mike reached to turn on his nightstand lamp. “I don’t know, I just can’t settle down. I’m not hungry or anything.”

“Me neither.” Joel didn’t feel up to reading or watching TV, but wasn’t sure what else he could try. “I guess we could talk.”

Mike looked at him thoughtfully, leaning on one elbow. “Why don’t you tell me about these star patterns on the ceiling? Tom says that always puts him right to sleep.”

“Oh, thanks a _lot_ ,” Joel deadpanned.

Mike held up his hands. “Tom’s words, not mine. But seriously, I would like to hear about them.”

“You would?” Joel looked at him, surprised.

Mike shrugged, smiling as he turned off the light. “I noticed them that first night we were all together, at your old place. Never got the chance to ask you about them. Then, when we moved in here, you were in here for an hour putting them up again. I’ve never seen anyone do that with glow-in-the-dark stars. Most people just stick them up in any old pattern. I figured there had to be a reason you picked these constellations. If you want to tell me, of course.”

“Well…okay.” It wasn’t that this topic was particularly personal, but Joel had never discussed it with anyone aside from the ’bots, and they hadn’t paid much attention. Well, he realized, if Mike really wanted to know, he didn’t mind telling him.

“Let’s start with the basics. That constellation by the window —” Joel pointed towards one corner of the ceiling “— is Taurus.”

“The one with that particularly bright star near the center?”

“Yep. That’s supposed to be Aldebaran, the brightest one in the constellation. It’s a red giant out in space. That little cluster is the Pleiades…”

They talked for several minutes longer after that, Joel giving Mike a condensed version of the constellations and patterns he had chosen to recreate with the cheap plastic stars, and why. He didn’t know if Mike understood all of it, but Mike just listened and occasionally asked questions or commented, never once making Joel feel like any of his explanations were ridiculous. So many people he knew would probably have either dozed off or made fun of him. Not Mike.

That was…a refreshing change.

When he was finally done, Joel laid back on his pillow, feeling much calmer. Mike seemed more relaxed as well, pulling his blanket up around him.

“Someday,” Joel added, “when I have my own place, I want to try recreating the same thing with fiber optics. Or glow-in-the-dark paint.”

“Wow. Those would look amazing.” Mike lay back. “Great thing to fall asleep to.”

“Yeah, it would be. Even these stars are,” Joel agreed. “Did you ever feel that way?”

“About what?”

“The view in space.”

Mike turned back onto his side, looking thoughtful. “You know, no one’s ever asked me that before. I guess I never really thought about it before now.”

“Well, there aren’t many people we can talk to about this kind of thing,” Joel pointed out.

As soon as the words left his mouth, he froze. _We?_ Not _you? We?_

How had that slipped out so easily, almost without him noticing?

If Mike had noticed, he didn’t seem to react. “Now that you ask, I guess it was a good thing to fall asleep to. If only because it was really, really boring. Like permanently running a bad screensaver outside my window.”

Joel chuckled. “I can agree with you on that.”

Mike laughed with him, then was quiet for a minute. “You know, there are people who would have killed to do what we did, minus the bad movies. People train for years just to be up there for a few months. When we studied space in school, every kid in my class was dying to be an astronaut, at least until we started the dinosaur unit the next month. Then they wanted to be paleontologists. The next month it was insects…”

“But you didn’t want to be an astronaut?” Joel ventured.

There was a pause before Mike answered. “I don’t know _what_ I wanted to be. I still don’t.”

Joel digested this without answering, sensing Mike had more to say. He was right.

“All I’ve ever known for sure is _where_ I wanted to be,” Mike continued after a minute. “I’d work any job as long as I got to stay near my family in Wisconsin, so temping was perfect. Then I got shot into space, and all I wanted to do was get back to Earth. And after I got back to Earth, well…” Mike trailed off.

“Where did you want to be then?” Joel asked, when Mike didn’t continue.

Mike’s answer was immediate; Joel could just make out his hand gesturing in the direction of the ’bots’ room. “Wherever they were.”

Joel smiled, even knowing Mike probably couldn’t see it. “So, you’re okay with where you are now?”

“Yeah. I am.” Joel didn’t have to see him to know Mike was smiling, too. “More than okay, actually.”

He did not expect to hear what Mike said next, his tone suddenly more serious. “I like being where _you_ are, too.”

Joel swallowed. “Thanks,” he said after a few moments. What else could he possibly say to that?

Well, maybe he couldn’t _say_ anything else. But that did bring him back to the question he’d been pondering occasionally since their first time hanging out. Now seemed as good a time as any to finally ask it. Why hadn’t he brought it up sooner?

“Mike, why did you want to find me?”

“You really want to know?” Mike sounded surprised.

“Well…yeah.” _Wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t_ , Joel didn’t add. Now was not the time for sarcasm. “I mean, you didn’t have to hang around when the ’bots wanted to find me. But you said _you_ wanted to find me, too. I just don’t understand why. You didn’t really know me. We barely talked when we first met. Why would you want to see me again?”

“Why not?” Mike asked. “C’mon, you don’t think you’re someone I’d want to get to know?”

“Well…” Joel had no idea how to finish that sentence. _Sure, you’d_ love _to get to know someone who abandoned you in space and was a total jerk about it. You seem like that kind of guy._

Mercifully, Mike didn’t prod him to continue. “Joel, to be honest, even if we’d hated each other when we first met…I think I would have wanted to find you anyway.”

Joel stared at him in the darkness. No way Mike could have guessed what he was thinking — or could he?

“Yeah, I know that sounds pretty screwed up,” Mike went on. “But just hear me out.”

Joel nodded, before remembering Mike probably couldn’t see it. “Okay.”

Mike took a deep breath. “When I got back to Earth, I thought everything was going to be great again. No more bad movies, no more threats of oxygen loss, no more accidentally destroying planets. And yeah, I didn’t have to worry about any of that anymore. But…it wasn’t that simple. I started temping again and got a roof over my head eventually, but it still felt like something was missing. I got back in touch with my family, but that didn’t completely fix it. Eventually, I realized that as great as it was to have the ’bots still with me, I needed more than just them and my family. I needed — to feel more connected, I guess. I was on a planet of six billion people and yet I still felt completely alone. The fact that I never worked anywhere more than a month or so didn’t help.”

Joel had no idea what made him ask his next question, but out it came. “Did you date after you got back to Earth?”

“A little,” Mike admitted. “The first couple times, it was just scratching an itch. A five-year itch. Nothing more.”

Joel nodded in understanding. Sex wasn’t particularly important to him personally, but everyone had needs. He couldn’t judge Mike for the occasional meaningless fling.

“Then…I don’t know. Once that was satisfied, I wanted more. I wanted something — real, I guess. More than a one-night stand, or sharing a drink at Happy Hour. And not just because Crow and Tom would short-sheet my bed or hide frogs in it while I was out. Or both.”

Joel chuckled in spite of himself. “Rubber frogs or real ones?”

“Real, after I took away the rubber ones. Not my brightest moment.” Joel could almost hear Mike’s eyeroll. “So I tried to find something more serious. But I just couldn’t connect with anyone, even as friends. What was I supposed to talk about — being stranded in space? Gravity sickness? The exciting world of temp work?”

Joel nodded, listening quietly.

“It took a while, but I eventually realized —” Mike looked Joel straight in the eye “— the last person I really connected with was, well, _you_. Even before I met you.”

Joel cocked his head. “How’s that? Was it the tube socks?”

Mike laughed. “They were part of it, yes. But when I looked through everything you left — your logs, your tapes, your stuff — and listened to the ’bots talk about you, I really wanted to get to know you. I always hoped I’d get to meet you, and then I did, and you were everything and nothing like I thought you’d be.”

“What do you mean?”

Mike smiled. “You are every bit as smart, funny, kind and generous as I thought you’d be. You’re just so much more of those things than I ever expected.”

Joel swallowed hard. He couldn’t remember the last time anyone had given him such a nice compliment.

“That’s one reason I was so nervous about finding you again,” Mike went on. “I wanted to — to see if we could be friends.” His voice caught a little on the last word before he continued. “Then again, that was up to you. Of course you’d want the ’bots around, but what if you didn’t want anything to do with me? I wasn’t anyone to you.”

“Oh, Mike, that was never true,” Joel said quickly. “Just the fact that you took care of them, made friends with them, played with them — I can’t tell you what that meant to me. As soon as I saw Tom and Crow, I knew whoever replaced me had been good to them. That’s more than I ever could have hoped for.” He smiled. “And then you turned out to be a pretty decent guy, too.”

“Thanks.” Mike paused, then continued, sounding unexpectedly somber. “Joel, you and I have things in common that, God willing, no one else on Earth will ever go through. Maybe we don’t talk about it all the time, and we don’t have to, but no matter what happens, we’ll always have that. And I can’t speak for you, but I think we get along pretty well, too. If that’s not a good enough reason for us to be together, I don’t know what is.” His tone lightened as he added, “And we have four robots who like having both of us around. That helps.”

Joel smiled. “Yeah. It does. Thanks, Mike.” As he processed what Mike had said, something jumped out at him. Quickly, he asked, “You mean, be together as roommates, right? Not just friends, or coworkers?”

Strangely, Mike didn’t answer right away. When he finally did, his voice sounded a bit thick. “Yeah. That’s what I meant. Not just friends.” Before Joel could say anything else, Mike said, “It’s getting late. We should probably try to sleep.”

“Yeah. It was good talking to you, Mike. Good night.”

“You too, Joel.” Mike rolled onto his side, facing away from Joel.

Joel laid back on his mattress, more relaxed now, even though he now had more than ever to think over. But that could wait for the morning.

His last thought before he finally fell asleep lingered on one particular thing Mike had said.

_Not just friends?_

o~O~o

Over their first month or so of living together, Joel, Mike and the ’bots settled into a normal routine. When Joel, Mike and Gypsy weren’t working or dealing with other demands of everyday life, there was family time, both spontaneous and scheduled.

This, of course, included a weekly movie night. They didn’t always watch bad movies, of course, but now that they could choose what to watch and when, riffing was a lot more fun. It was almost a sport between Joel, Mike, Tom and Crow as they tried to outpace each other, with Gypsy pitching in a joke or two as inspiration struck. Cambot was usually a silent observer, as was typical, but his occasional beeps reminded them all that he was still there, still making fun.

A week after he and Mike had had their late-night talk, movie night rolled around again. This week was Joel’s choice.

“What are we watching tonight?” Mike asked from his usual seat on the couch, popcorn bowl resting precariously on his lap. Tom and Crow were on either side of him, of course swiping from the bowl when they thought he wasn’t looking and hastily stuffing their faces. As a result, the bowl that had been full just a few minutes ago was now nearly half-empty.

“Something I got from the bargain bin at the library sale.” Joel pored over their extensive DVD cabinet for a minute or two, trying to find exactly where he had put his purchase. Someday the six of them might agree on an organizational scheme; currently they were debating between alphabetical, by genre, Tomatometer score, and degree of inebriation required for enjoyment.

“Don’t they sell movies for only a dollar at the sale? Why do they have a bargain bin?”

“Because there are some movies that aren’t even worth a dollar to see.” Joel heard the ’bots instantly murmur agreement. Finding his prize at last, he held up the DVD case for them to see.

“ _Titanic: The Legend Goes On_?” Mike scratched his head. “Never heard of it.”

“It’s an animated musical about the _Titanic_. Pretty sure there’s a good reason you haven’t.”

“Um, the story of the _Titanic_ isn’t a legend…” Gypsy began.

“Somehow, Gyps,” Joel said as he put the movie in, “I suspect that’s the least of this movie’s problems.”

“Ooh, this should be _good!_ ” Crow said gleefully.

“Probably not for the reasons the filmmakers intended,” Mike remarked as Joel switched off the lights and joined him on the couch. Crow and Tom vacated the couch to sit together on the floor, ignoring Mike’s look of annoyance as they left him with the now quarter-full popcorn bowl. Gypsy rested her head on the sofa arm next to Mike, while Cambot hovered near Joel at the other.

“What exactly does one intend when making an animated musical about the _Titanic_?” Tom wondered.

Joel shrugged as the movie started. “I guess we’ll find out.”

Crow was right. The movie turned out to be an excellent choice — for all the wrong reasons, of course. Between the clearly plagiarized character designs, cheap and low-quality animation, ear-bleedingly awful music, and, best (worst) of all, the rapping dog, the riffs flew fast and furious. As he, Mike and the ’bots tore the movie to shreds, Joel felt more relaxed than he had in days. This was one of his few activities that was purely for fun — no point, no purpose other than just being with his family. What could be better?

As the movie progressed toward its bafflingly happy ending, the six of them seemed to groan as one. Even Gypsy was shaking her head in disbelief.

“I love happy endings, but if there was ever a story that _shouldn’t_ have one…” she pointed out.

“But Gypsy _,_ they’re on a ship in the middle of the ocean!” said Crow, mimicking a particularly choice line from earlier in the movie.

“Oh, sure, over fifteen hundred people are dead, but that’s fine, Mr. Bland and Miss Cliché are together after exchanging five whole sentences!” Tom said scornfully.

Joel opened his mouth to add to that as he reached into the nearly-empty popcorn bowl for one last handful.

He didn’t realize Mike was reaching in there at the same time.

As their fingers brushed, a jolt seemed to go through him.

Whatever quip he had been about to make died on his lips as he turned to look at Mike, startled.

Mike was staring at their touching hands, with an expression Joel had never seen on him before — a mix of apprehension, wonder and something Joel couldn’t name, half-illuminated in the glow of the TV. The movie and the ’bots seemed to fade into the background as Joel sat frozen, wondering why either of them didn’t just pull away, laugh it off, pretend nothing had happened.

He swallowed as he realized one possible reason.

He didn’t _want_ to pull away.

Since that hug they had shared at his old place months ago, they had never really touched each other again — why would they? Now, as they made contact for only the second time, Joel stared down at the fingers resting against his own, and wondered what they might feel like wrapped around his.

Wait — no!

Mike was his _friend_ , his roommate, friends didn’t —

_Danger, Joel Robinson._

As he started to panic, he looked up at Mike again. Now Mike was looking back at him, not with disgust or annoyance or even shock, but with hope lighting his eyes. As their gazes locked, Mike seemed to draw in a breath, biting his lip for a moment as he did so.

Then Mike’s hand slipped under Joel’s — not, Joel realized, to get more popcorn — and suddenly they were almost holding hands.

Hardly able to process what was happening, Joel struggled to control his breathing. He thought Mike might have whispered his name, but he could barely hear anything over the sound of his heart pounding in his ears. Could Mike hear it?

_What the hell is happening to me?_

_What the hell is happening to_ us?

_More importantly…now what?_

Thankfully, his racing thoughts were interrupted when, from the corner of his eye, he saw Crow glance at him and Mike, then nudge Tom. With his nonfunctional arms, Tom wasn’t able to nudge back, so he resorted to swinging his body to swat Crow. Crow quickly struck back, and before Joel could blink the two were in a full-out brawl, their shouts (mercifully) drowning out the movie as Crow pinned Tom to the ground and Tom bashed his domed head against Crow’s, Gypsy trying to separate them and Cambot quickly moving around for a better view.

Joel’s anxiety and confusion were quickly forgotten as he sighed and went to break up the fight, leaving Mike alone on the couch.

For the rest of the night, he successfully avoided looking at him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Boy, when Joel and Mike start talking, it’s not easy to get them to stop. Even if Joel really needs the application of a clue-by-four. :P For the record, I think it’s perfectly fine for friends to hold hands if they like, without necessarily romantic connotations; Joel, however, does not think that, if only because he’s a tad confused about his feelings at this point, to say the least. ;P_  
>  _Fun fact: I nearly titled this chapter “I Didn’t Mean to Turn You On” after the Robert Palmer song, but decided it didn’t quite fit. Kind of a shame, given that it would have also worked as a reference to 907. Oh, well._  
>  _We’re only a third of the way through and already the response to this story has been so much more than I ever expected. Thank you all so, so much! I hope you’re still enjoying. :) (Credit for the “Wing Bots” tag goes to Dandelionish — of course. ^_~)_  
>  _That animated_ Titanic _movie, btw? It’s 100% real, rapping dog and all. Oh, yeah. See[here](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanic:_The_Legend_Goes_On), [here](http://youtu.be/LITMOnKB-8o), and [here](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/WesternAnimation/TitanicTheLegendGoesOn) for more details, if you dare. I’m still hoping RiffTrax will take a stab (or more) at it one day._


	5. Crush

_“It’s just some little thing (crush), not like everything I do depends on you…”_

_~ “Crush”, Jennifer Paige_

 

Joel didn’t get much sleep that night. After the movie, when Mike was going to bed, Joel said he was going to stay up and read for a bit. Once the light had gone off in their room, he tried to read, but after several pages he realized he couldn’t recall a single word. He puttered aimlessly around the kitchen for a bit, drank a cup of herbal tea that did nothing, and finally collapsed on the couch under Mike’s beloved Packers fleece, trying and failing to sleep until exhaustion overcame him.

He woke up groggily the next morning as the morning light filtered in, his neck stiff and aching thanks to a couch cushion that was not meant to be used as a pillow. He didn’t need a mirror to know he probably looked horrible, with sleep-deprived eyes and hair in desperate need of combing. Managing to get to his feet, the blanket still wrapped around him like a cape, he shuffled into the kitchen and started coffee.

A few minutes later, he was sitting at the kitchen table with his hands wrapped around a mug, waiting for it to cool. What was wrong with him? Why couldn’t he have just gone to sleep in his room like he did every other night?

He shook his head as he took an experimental sip, wincing as he nearly scalded his tongue. He knew exactly why he had slept out here. With how he’d been feeling after the movie, after what had happened, there was no way he could sleep in the same room as Mike. Never mind that Mike had his own bed and Joel knew he would never, ever try to take advantage of him. Just being there, just feet away from him, was too much.

That is, if Joel hadn’t completely misinterpreted everything that had transpired.

And now he had to face him this morning.

The coffee was cooler now, so Joel took several more sips as he tried to think with his exhaustion-fogged brain. Maybe he was wrong about this whole thing; it wouldn’t be the first time. Maybe everything that had happened had been completely innocent and he was just overreacting. He wouldn’t let himself think about _why_ he had overreacted. Maybe Mike wouldn’t remember or mention any of it, and they could continue on as normal. As normal as life ever got with four robots and the two of them, anyway.

_The two of us…_

Joel blinked. Why did those four little words seem so significant all of a sudden? Why was that phrase sticking in his mind?

“Good morning.”

Joel almost fell off his chair at the sound of Mike’s voice. He caught himself and turned to greet Mike. “Hey.”

“Did you come to bed last night?” Mike looked at Joel, concerned, as he poured himself some coffee. “You look terrible.”

“Oh, _thanks_. Just got caught up in my book,” Joel lied. “I slept on the couch.”

“Good thing I didn’t sleep there when I moved in, then.” Mike joined him at the table.

_Yeah. Good thing._

They sat in silence for a few minutes, drinking their coffee. Just when Joel was about to relax, Mike turned to him. “Joel?”

“Yeah?”

“Look, maybe now’s not a great time, but the ’bots will be up soon and I don’t think this can wait.” Mike looked him straight in the eye and Joel wanted to crawl under the table. “Can we talk?”

“Uh, sure.” What else was he supposed to say? Not that he had any idea what he would say next. “What’s going on?”

Mike took a deep breath. “Well —”

“ _Jooooooel! Miiiiiike!_ ”

Joel sighed quietly with relief as Mike groaned in frustration. “Crow, Tom, go back to sleep. It’s not even 7:30!”

“But we’re _hungry!_ ” Crow whined as he rushed into the kitchen, Tom hovering behind him. “I want Pop-Tarts!”

“Crow,” Joel said, grateful for the distraction, “you know those are treats. What else do you want?”

“Waffles!” Tom piped up. “Let’s have waffles! With butter and syrup and powdered sugar and —”

“All right, all right. But no powdered sugar.” Joel avoided looking at Mike as he went to the freezer for the Eggos. Tom and Crow began pestering Mike for juice and he reluctantly complied, clearly trying not to sound annoyed. Joel didn’t like that, but if a little irritation was the price of having their talk cut short, so be it.

The cost of the alternative was much too high.

o~O~o

To Joel’s great relief, they never did end up having that talk. For the next week or so it seemed they could never get a minute to themselves, between work, the ’bots, and various other inconveniences of daily life. Whether this was by chance or choice (on Joel’s part) was unclear. On movie night, Crow and Tom insisted on sitting between them as they watched _Princess Mononoke_ , for reasons Joel was not completely clear on, but thankful for nonetheless, even if Mike didn’t seem pleased.

Work was an excellent distraction, as both of them were far too busy to exchange more than a few business-related words during the day. Joel caught Kendra, and a few others, looking oddly at him and Mike whenever they spoke, but none of them ever said anything. Joel didn’t normally hole himself up in the back office by choice, but he found himself retreating there for longer and longer periods when Mike was on duty. Mike, thankfully, never came to find him there, except to tell him when he was clocking out.

Still, avoiding Mike at home was not nearly as simple. Joel threw himself into household chores, playing with the ’bots, and anything else he could think of to keep himself busy. Mike seemed to go along with it, helping out as Joel would permit, but for the first time since they had met, Joel wished he would just _go away._ He hadn’t felt this conflicted since before Mike and the ’bots had found him; he longed to be near Mike, but wanted to keep his distance. He wanted to pull Mike into his arms and hold him tight, and yet sometimes he never wanted to see him again.

Even the ’bots were starting to pick up on the tension, and they of course wouldn’t leave it alone. Gypsy repeatedly pulled Joel aside and asked him if he was okay, if he and Mike were okay, and he insisted that they were. Which wasn’t technically a lie; it wasn’t as if they’d had a falling-out or disagreement. He often caught Cambot gazing at him and Mike appraisingly, almost thoughtfully, but when asked Cambot insisted he wasn’t doing anything more than simply observing, and for once refused to elaborate on his observations. Crow took full advantage of the situation to somehow get into even more mischief than usual, given how distracted Joel and Mike were. It was Tom who made jokes about them acting like a married couple, and Joel did his best to ignore them, even as he wanted to hide in bed whenever Tom started.

Worse still, for almost two weeks he hadn’t been able to bring himself to sleep in their room. He’d been sleeping on the couch, always making some excuse to stay up and then never following through. With a little adjustment, he was sleeping better there, but not being able to sleep in his room — their room — was taking its toll. Unfortunately, it was obvious Mike knew, from the worried look Joel saw on him every morning, but for whatever reason Mike never said anything.

Joel had no idea how to handle the whole situation. What was he supposed to do? Kick Mike out? Never. Find another place to live? That was practically the same as kicking Mike out. Hope Mike would find someone else? Not only was that not a guarantee, but Joel couldn’t deny the stab of jealousy he felt at the thought of seeing Mike with this hypothetical partner. Spend more time away from the apartment? Maybe, but he would always have to come home at some point, and there Mike would be, with all the confusing feelings his presence wrought.

What could he even _say_ to Mike? _Being around you scares me; I can’t explain why. You make me feel things I haven’t felt in years. It hurts to be around you, but that’s all I want to do. I don’t know what to do._

_I…might be falling in love with you._

Nope, he wasn’t about to say _any_ of that. Especially not the last part.

Even if, by some improbability — or was that impossibility? — Mike had feelings for him, Joel still didn’t know what he would do. His last serious relationship had ended shortly before he was shot into space and he hadn’t had a date in months, hadn’t wanted to date anyone in months. He had never dated a man — had considered it a few times on a whim, years ago, but never followed through. He was sure Mike would want more than just a fling, and he didn’t want anything casual, either. But being with Mike? Doing all the things couples did? They were already roommates and parents, in a sense. Weren’t they doing this a bit backward?

And — worst of all — what if they tried to be together and it didn’t work out? For the first time in his life, he found himself dreading a breakup — with someone he wasn’t even dating, no less. He’d lose a close friend and roommate, and the ’bots would be forced to split time between two different homes again. Granted, that wasn’t such a terrible thing, but Joel refused to put them through that again if he could help it. That wasn’t even considering how painful losing Mike would be for him.

Despite his intelligence and sharp wit, Joel couldn’t wrap his head around _any_ of it. Whenever he tried, he found himself with a pounding above the eyes and a sinking feeling in his chest.

How ironic that the only person he might have been able to talk to about this was also the one person he _couldn’t_ talk to.

o~O~o

“Crow,” Joel heard Gypsy ask, “what’s crushing?”

Joel stopped to listen, setting down the wet sponge in his hand. He’d been cleaning the kitchen while the ’bots hung out in the living room just a few feet away. Evidently Crow and Tom had had enough of Battleship (“Ha! You did _not_ sink my carrier!”) and Tom had gone off in a huff to their room, leaving Gypsy with Crow. Mike, mercifully, had gone out to run some errands.

“Oh, you know, Gypsy,” said Crow. “It’s that thing you did to Joel that one time when he played rock-paper-scissors with Tom and me.”

Joel winced at the memory. Not one of his prouder moments, even if Tom and Crow had kind of deserved it.

“Of course I know what _that_ is,” Gypsy said impatiently. “But I don’t think that’s what Kendra and Drew were talking about.”

Joel quickly picked up his sponge again, halfheartedly wiping down the same spot on the counter several times over as he kept listening. Kendra? Drew, one of his line cooks? What had they been talking about?

“What do you mean?”

“When we were at the shop for lunch the other day, remember when I went up to get extra tartar sauce? Well, Kendra was talking to Drew, and I heard him say, ‘It’s so obvious, right?’ And she said, ‘Yeah! They’re totally crushing!’”

Joel froze, dropping the sponge on the counter.

“Hmm.” Crow considered for a minute. “Now that you mention it, I think I know what they were talking about.”

“Yeah?”

Joel’s heartbeat echoed loudly in his ears as he strained to hear Crow’s reply.

“‘Crushing’, my dear Gypsy, is when someone wants to be on top of someone else so much that they want to pound them into the ground.”

Well, Joel had to admit there was a grain of truth to that, even if it was completely accidental (as was often the case with Crow).

“Huh.” Joel couldn’t see it, but he could picture Gypsy tilting her head back as she mulled it over, a familiar gesture. “That sounds…pretty intense.”

_Yeah. It is._

“I wonder who they were talking about crushing?” Gypsy mused.

“Why didn’t you ask?”

“I didn’t get a chance; Drew had to get back in the kitchen and Kendra had to answer the phone, and then we left. Hmm.” Gypsy thought some more. “Maybe they were talking about Tony and Gabe. Those two seem like they want to pound each other into the ground.”

Joel retrieved his sponge and began cleaning again, feeling a bit more relaxed. True, Tony and Gabe often did not get along; they managed to at least be civil to each other while on duty, but he wouldn’t be surprised to come to work one day to find one of them standing over the other in pieces. Who knew, though? Maybe Gypsy had accidentally hit on the real reason for their animosity.

“No, I don’t think so,” Crow said. “I don’t think they want to be on top of each other, I mean. No, they must have been talking about someone else.”

“Who do you think it was?” Gypsy asked.

“Well — Mike!”

Joel stopped in his tracks as he heard the front door open, followed by the familiar tread of a certain pair of Converse shoes.

“Hey, guys,” Mike greeted Crow and Gypsy. “What are you two up to?”

“We were talking about crushing!” Gypsy said excitedly.

“Crushing? You mean that thing you did to Joel that one time —”

Joel sighed quietly. Mike hadn’t even been there and _he_ was never letting Joel live that one down.

“No, no!” Gypsy interrupted him. “Kendra and Drew at the shop think it’s obvious that some people are totally crushing, and we’re trying to figure out who.”

“Oh, I see.” There was a pause as Mike thought. “Well, Christy Bennett has been coming by pretty much every time Jason’s on duty. Half the time she doesn’t even notice when he messes up her order. We’re all wondering who’s going to cave and ask the other one out.”

Huh. Now that Mike mentioned it, Christy never eating most of what she ordered — and the extra shifts Jason kept volunteering to pick up — suddenly made a lot more sense.

“Ask them out?” Crow sounded puzzled. “So they can schedule a time to pound each other into the ground?”

“ _What?_ ” Mike sounded equally bewildered and amused. “Oh — is _that_ what you think ‘crushing’ means? Well, yes, it could mean that, but I think what Kendra was talking about was when someone _really_ likes someone else. As more than a friend.”

“And it can be really obvious?” Gypsy asked.

“Absolutely. They can get flustered when the other person’s around —”

Inadvertently, Joel swiped the sponge so hard that he let go of it, flinging it into the sink. _Smooth, Robinson._

“Or they start blushing a lot when the other person’s nearby —” Mike continued.

God, when had it gotten so hot in here? Joel resisted the urge to fill the sink with ice water and plunge his face into it.

“Or — and this is a dead giveaway — they keep making excuses to be around the other person.”

If only the kitchen had more than one entrance. Joel would have gladly snuck out the back at this moment. Hell, if it had a window he would have been tempted to dive out, never mind that they lived on the fifth floor.

He leaned on the counter, burying his face in his hands.

_Oh my God…what am I going to do?_

“Joel?”

Joel nearly leapt out of his skin at the sound of Mike’s voice behind him. He took a deep breath to calm himself and slowly looked up to see that Mike, Crow and Gypsy had all crowded into their tiny kitchen. Crow and Gypsy seemed to be looking at him with interest.

“Oh, hi Mike,” he managed. “Didn’t realize you were back.”

Mike shrugged, smiling. “Well, I’m back. So, we just wanted to ask —”

“Who do _you_ think Kendra and Drew think is crushing?” Gypsy cut in.

“It’s really, really obvious,” Crow added.

Joel could have said Christy and Jason. He could even have said Tony and Gabe, or any other pair of employees or acquaintances who came to mind. Any answer would have been better than what he actually said.

“Um…” he started. After much too long a pause, he stuttered out, “I — I r-really have no idea.”

_Oh, yeah. That gave_ nothing _away_.

“You don’t, do you?” Mike seemed to study him for a moment, his expression unreadable. Joel had to remind himself repeatedly to look him in the eye.

“No. No, I don’t,” Joel snapped back, more defensively than intended. “I’ve been too busy to notice anything like that.”

Mike didn’t answer right away. “Yeah,” he finally said. “Yeah, I suppose you have.”

A note of wistfulness crept into his voice, and Joel felt his heart twist a little bit.

After a moment, Mike spoke again, sounding much more cheerful. “Well, it doesn’t really matter. We were just asking for fun. Come on, why don’t we go see what’s on TV?”

He and Crow walked out of the kitchen, but Gypsy didn’t follow. Instead, she looked at Joel a minute longer, the glare of her eye seeming to spotlight him.

“Gyps?” Joel finally dared to ask.

Gypsy just shook her head. “You really don’t have any idea, Joel Robinson,” was all she said, before turning and exiting the kitchen.

Joel sagged against the freshly washed countertop, wanting to collapse on the floor.

No. He didn’t.

o~O~o

Two-and-a-half weeks after _Titanic_ night — how appropriate, Joel later realized, that this had all been set in motion by not only a disaster movie, but a disaster _of_ a movie — Mike asked Joel again if they could talk.

There was no getting out of it this time; it was a Wednesday night, Joel had nothing to do, and the ’bots were in the living room riffing _Congo_. Despite the presence of Joe Don Baker, Mike clearly had no desire to join them.

Joel swallowed. “Sure.”

They went into their room and closed the door, sitting on Mike’s bed. Joel forced himself to keep eye contact with Mike, hoping his anxiety wasn’t as obvious as it felt. “What’s on your mind?”

Mike looked at him gravely. “You.”

“I’m sorry?”

Mike glanced down at his hands, wringing them slightly before he spoke. “Joel, I — I don’t think I can stay here any longer.”

“What? Why?” Mike’s declaration should have come as a huge relief, but instead Joel felt as if he’d been stabbed in the heart. Mike looked at him and winced.

“I know. Look, I’ll still help with the rent until the lease is up, and we’ll let the ’bots decide what they want to do —”

“Wait, wait.” Joel held up a hand to stop him. “You didn’t answer my question. Why do you want to move out?”

Mike sighed. “God…how do I say this?”

“It’s okay,” Joel said reassuringly. He wanted to pat Mike’s shoulder, but couldn’t make his hands move. “Take your time.”

“Thanks.” Mike was silent for a few more minutes, his breathing a little uneven, and Joel sat patiently, waiting.

Finally, Mike turned to look at him, and Joel felt his heart drop.

“It’s…it’s starting to get uncomfortable for me here, Joel. It’s not the ’bots, or the place, or you — well, it _is_ you, but it’s not your fault. It’s not anything you did.”

Joel frowned. “What do you mean?”

Mike took a deep breath. “After all this time we’ve spent together, getting to know you, living with you, I…it took me a while, but I finally realized something. You might hate me for this, but I have to say it.”

Joel shook his head. “Mike, I could never hate you. What is it? Tell me.”

God, when had his throat gone so dry?

Mike exhaled and looked him in the eye. “I like you, Joel. As more than a friend.”


	6. Heaven Help

_“Heaven help the fool that walks through my door, ’cause I decided right now, I’m ready for love…”_

_~ “Heaven Help”, Lenny Kravitz_

 

Joel stared, unable to speak. He’d suspected this — hell, had practically _known_ it was so — and yet he was still completely unprepared to hear Mike say it out loud.

“I want to be more than friends, Joel. More than roommates. I’ve wanted that for a long time. I — I just want _you_.” As Mike finished speaking, he seemed to sit up a bit straighter, as if dropping a heavy weight.

Joel finally spoke. “You — you want _me?_ ” His voice cracked on the last word.

Mike nodded solemnly. “More than I’ve ever wanted anyone.”

 _Wow._ No one had ever said anything like that to Joel before. He sat there, frozen.

“But — but why?” he finally choked out in disbelief. “There’s probably dozens of people who’d line up to be with you.”

Mike looked confused now. “Maybe, but why would I go after any of them when I want you?”

There was a pang in Joel’s heart as he realized that in Mike’s world, it really was just that simple. How could he explain that, for him, it wasn’t that straightforward? His thoughts were interrupted when he saw Mike’s confusion disappear as he bit his lip — and hurriedly pushed away the thought of what kissing those lips might be like.

“Unless…you don’t feel the same way?” The pain Joel saw forming in Mike’s eyes was almost his undoing. “Is that what you’re trying to say?”

This was it. Mike had just given Joel the easiest possible out. All he had to do was say, “Sorry, but I don’t feel that way about you” and it would be done. Mike would be disappointed, of course, but he wouldn’t push. He’d move out, probably wouldn’t want to see Joel for a while, but he would let the ’bots stay if they wanted to, or still bring them to visit. Of course Joel would let him see them. And hopefully he’d eventually get over the rejection and find someone better, and they’d be able to go back to being friends.

Joel’s thoughts raced as Mike looked at him, apprehensive yet tender.

_Just say it. Do it. Let him go. Be done with all this. Get back to your life._

One short sentence. Just one affirmation and this would be over.

Joel was startled from his trance by Mike sighing. He looked up to see Mike looking rather downcast, tail between his legs. “It’s okay. You don’t have to say it. I get it. Forget I ever said anything.” He started to turn away. “I’ll just get going —”

As Joel heard these words, processed them, his heart, which had been silent until now — or had he been ignoring it? — spoke up much louder than any of his thoughts, a burst of adrenaline overriding his fear.

 _Don’t you_ dare _let him go, Joel Robinson._

“No!”

Joel covered his mouth, as shocked at his outburst as Mike seemed to be. The hurt had vanished from Mike’s face, quickly replaced by confusion.

“No,” Joel repeated, softer this time. He wanted to reach out and grab Mike’s hand, but felt paralyzed to move. Instead, he shook his head. “Mike, don’t go. That’s not what I meant. I’m sorry.”

“Then what did you mean?” Mike leaned forward, more hopeful now.

 _Now or never._ Joel took a deep breath, exhaling fully before he spoke again. “I — I feel the same way about you, Mike.”

Mike’s eyes lit up so brightly Joel felt himself melting under their gaze. “Well, why didn’t you just say so?”

Joel felt his confidence slowly ebbing back into his body. “I’m…I’m scared, Mike.”

“Of what?”

 _Here goes nothing — or is it everything?_ Joel steadied himself before speaking again. “Mike, I haven’t been with many people.” As he continued, he straightened up, finding the words easier to say. Maybe because he was finally telling the truth. “It’s been years since I’ve been with anyone — seriously, that is. I’ve never been with a man before. And…and I’m afraid of what might happen if this doesn’t work out. I didn’t know how to tell you. This…” He waved his hand vaguely in the air between them. “This is all new to me.”

To his relief — and astonishment — Mike didn’t look upset or amused at hearing this, only understanding. “Oh, Joel. It’s new to me, too.” At Joel’s confused look, he smiled. “Well, it’s never been with you before.”

When he said things like that, how the hell was Joel supposed to stay away from him?

“You know,” Mike went on, “that actually makes me feel a little better.”

“It does?”

“Yeah,” Mike admitted. He chuckled almost sheepishly. “It helps to know that the guy who built the ’bots and his own spaceship isn’t any smarter about relationships than I am.”

The two of them laughed together, and Joel instantly felt the tension dissipating. Why had he been so worried about this? Because he viewed this situation with the mechanical, meticulous eye he applied to every other aspect of his life. Maybe this was one thing he needed to start looking at differently.

“Unfortunately,” Mike said after a moment, “there isn’t an instruction manual for this kind of thing.”

“What are you talking about?” Joel deadpanned. “Go to any bookstore. There’s an entire section for them.”

“True,” Mike conceded. “Maybe I should have said ‘ _helpful’_ instruction manual.”

Joel shrugged. “So we’ll make up our own.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Impulsively, Joel found himself reaching for Mike’s hand; Mike extended his in response. As Joel’s fingers curled into Mike’s, his heart leapt. He exhaled, letting out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding, and smiled at Mike. “Like I did when I made the ’bots.”

Mike smiled, his grasp tightening around Joel’s. “I read it cover-to-cover.”

As if on cue, they heard a faint shuffling from behind the door.

“What are they saying? What did Mike just say?”

“Quiet, Crow! Who cares? All that matters is that Joel clearly said, ‘I feel that way about you.’ Ha! You owe me ten bucks, Gypsy!”

“I do not! I demand a recount!”

“That goes for you too, Crow!”

“Tom, I do not owe you ten bucks! Cambot owes _me_ ten bucks!”

An indignant-sounding series of beeps followed Crow’s declaration.

“Oh, no. You’re not getting out of it that easily, Cambot. ‘Where would I keep ten dollars?’ Maybe the same place you keep —”

Whatever Crow had been about to accuse Cambot of keeping would never be known, as Joel chose that moment to open the door, standing behind it to avoid four robots crashing into the room. His creations lay there in a bickering, beeping pile of tubes, limbs and metal, nearly as loud in their arguing as they had been falling down.

Joel cleared his throat.

As one, the ’bots stopped fighting and looked up at him. “Oh, hello,” Tom said calmly from where he was coiled in Gypsy’s body. “Joel. Mike.” As Gypsy quickly released him, he dropped into his usual hover, moving between the two men. “I think I speak for all of us when I say —” he nodded at the others, who were now behind him “— _about_ _time,_ you two.”

The others nodded, murmuring or beeping their agreement.

Mike, now standing near Joel, folded his arms. “Were you all eavesdropping this whole time?”

“Of course not, Mike!” Tom said proudly. “It’s snooping, not eavesdropping, if you didn’t know we were listening.”

Mike rolled his eyes. “Yes, that makes it _so_ much better.”

“Isn’t it called ‘bugging’ if they don’t know you’re listening?” Gypsy asked.

“You’re almost right, Gypsy,” Mike replied.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Gypsy!” Crow cut in. “Bugging is when the government hides insects in your apartment and then won’t send the exterminator until you tell them what they want to know.”

“Huh,” Tom said. “Mike, that time you were a week late with the rent, didn’t our landlord —”

“Okay, okay, that’s enough.” Joel held up his hands like a teacher trying to settle down the class. “Whatever you four were doing, you know it was wrong to do it.”

“But, Joel!” Crow ran over to him and tapped his leg with a spindly arm. “Is it wrong for us to want you and Mike to get together?”

“No, of course not,” Joel said, reaching down to pat Crow’s arm. “But why did you think we would get together?”

“We didn’t _think_ , we _knew!”_ Crow said proudly.

Tom shook his head — his whole body, rather — vigorously, his arms swinging loosely from side to side. “Well, I don’t _think_ you _knew_ when it was going to happen, Crow, so you owe me ten —”

“Tommy, later, okay?” Joel interrupted. “What brought this on, guys? Why did you want to see us together?”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Mike nod in understanding, and it was all he could do not to run over and hug him. Of course Mike understood that Joel wasn’t just asking out of curiosity; he was asking to make sure the ’bots really were okay with their relationship. If they believed in it, he could, too.

It was Gypsy who provided the answer. “It’s the way you look at Mike.”

Joel frowned, no further enlightened than he had been a minute ago. “What do you mean, Gypsy?”

“Come on, Joel! Anyone could see it,” Tom said.

“Yeah!” Crow chimed in. “Ever since we found you again, we’ve been keeping an eye on you, Gypsy most of all.”

Gypsy nodded eagerly, either ignoring or oblivious to the joke. “And after I told them what I saw, they told me they saw it, too. The way you look at Mike, I mean. All those years in space, we never saw you look like that before, except when you met Mike. We even went through the old tapes with Cambot just to make sure.”

Cambot gave an affirmative beep in response.

“Look like what? How do I look?” Joel asked, bracing himself.

Even so, Crow’s response was completely unexpected. “Happy, Joel. Really, really happy,” he said simply.

Joel couldn’t respond right away. When he did, he found it hard to speak. “But I was happy with you guys before,” he protested weakly. “All those times we played together — we had some good times, didn’t we?”

“We did, Joel.” Gypsy nodded solemnly, as did her companions. “We still do. But —” she tilted her head in an approximation of a shrug “— you’ve never looked at us the way you look at Mike.”

Joel was speechless. Of all the things the ’bots could find to agree on…

“We _like_ seeing you look like that,” Tom added. “Mike looks at you like that, too — isn’t that right?” Four heads again nodded in agreement. “We went through all _his_ tapes, too, and we never saw that before, either. We…kind of like it.”

“Wait a minute.” Mike frowned. “Why do you ‘like’ how Joel looks and only ‘kind of like’ how I look?”

“Nothing personal, Mike,” Crow said. “‘Happy’ just looks better on Joel, that’s all.”

“Joel _glows_ ,” Gypsy said dreamily, now caught up in the romance.

“You have more of a faint glimmer,” Tom said casually, as if he were informing Mike that his socks didn’t match. “Like a farmhouse at night where they lit a candle on the porch because the lightbulb burned out, and there’s no one else around for forty miles, and —”

“Okay, okay. Point made.”

Despite the bickering, Joel felt himself becoming misty-eyed. After all this time, and everything that had and hadn’t transpired…the ’bots just wanted him to be happy. They liked seeing him happy. He hadn’t dared hope either of those things might be possible.

“…Thanks, guys,” he finally managed, his voice thick.

“So when’s the wedding?” Gypsy asked.

Joel’s jaw dropped. “Excuse me?”

“Summer is a very nice time, but also very busy,” Gypsy continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “You could probably book anywhere in winter, but, well, it’s _winter._ Ooh, autumn —!”

“We won’t have to wear ties, will we?” Tom asked disdainfully. “Ties make me look fat.”

“I agree,” Crow chimed in. “You’d look much better in a dress.”

“Do you really think so?” Tom asked, without a hint of sarcasm. “Because I was kind of leaning towards an A-line —”

Mike held up his hands. “Guys, guys, I think you’re jumping the gun a little. Joel and I haven’t even gone on a date yet.”

Gypsy gasped. “That’s _right!_ ” Mike was about to continue, but she cut him off. “Shame on you! Why haven’t you two been on a date?”

Joel started to answer, but to his surprise Mike beat him to it. “Because Joel hasn’t asked me yet.” He shrugged, tilting his head in Joel’s direction. Joel shot him a glance that was supposed to communicate both a sincere _Thank you_ and a more flippant _Good job deflecting_.

“Well, it took them this long to admit they like each other,” Tom sighed. “Taking bets now on how long it takes Joel to ask Mike out.”

“I’ll put five on next —” Crow piped up.

“No, no more betting,” Joel quickly interrupted. He had no desire to see if Crow would end the sentence with _week, year,_ or _century._ “I’ll — I’ll do it now.”

Five faces turned to look at Joel expectantly, but he only paid attention to one. He swallowed hard. Not that this kind of thing had ever been easy before, but when it was Mike, looking at him with such patience and anticipation, he felt as if he’d just eaten cotton. Even though he already knew what the answer would be.

“Mike?” The name came out in nearly a whisper.

Mike nodded.

Joel was so focused on Mike that he didn’t realize Gypsy had moved behind him. “Go on,” she urged gently, nudging him forward.

Unfortunately, Gypsy’s method of nudging entailed hitting her massive head against the small of Joel’s back. The momentum sent him stumbling — not much, but just far enough to nearly knock him into Mike. Mike automatically reached out to grab him, and when Joel looked up the two of them were face-to-face, Mike holding his shoulders. He was close enough to see that Mike hadn’t shaved this morning. Unexpectedly, a pleasant chill rippled down his spine.

“Are you okay?” Mike asked him. Joel could hear Gypsy’s quiet “sorry”, but the way he was feeling, she might as well have been a thousand miles away.

Joel found his voice. “Yeah, I’m okay. Better than okay.” As he looked into Mike’s soft blue eyes, he couldn’t help what he said next. “I…wouldn’t want to be anywhere else right now, actually.”

From behind him Joel heard a dreamy sigh, a snicker, a vaguely sarcastic “awww” and a soft beep. Well, he knew who had made at least one of those sounds.

Steeling his nerves, Joel began to speak again. “Mike…will you go out with me this weekend?”

“Yes.” Mike’s answer was warm and immediate.

There was a full minute’s silence as they looked at each other, uncertain but hopeful, neither knowing what would happen next but eager to see what did. For the first time in months, Joel felt another shackle fall away.

He nearly jumped into Mike’s arms when Tom suddenly spoke up. “Well, now that that’s done, I put ten on the first kiss happening on the fifth date.”

Joel opened his mouth to protest, but Crow quickly drowned him out. “Tommy, what are you thinking? There’s no way —” He abruptly stopped as he seemed to consider the implications of what he was saying, then continued with a smile in his voice. “Actually, keep that bet. I’m putting _twenty_ on the seventh date.”

“Well, I look forward to getting your twenty,” Tom sneered. “ _Everyone_ knows the _fifth_ date is when the good stuff happens.”

Joel looked at Mike, who smiled and shrugged. He decided not to ask Tom how he’d come by this information, but made a mental note to check under his bed later.

“Tom, Crow!” Of course Gypsy had her own opinion. “Don’t you realize how slow they are? I’m putting twenty-five on the tenth date.”

Cambot joined in with a series of beeps. “See? Cambot agrees with me. He’s betting the twelfth date. He’s seen it _all.”_

 _“_ Oh, is that so? Well, why don’t you tell us more, all-knowing Cambot, while we go with Crow to get the ten bucks he owes me?”

“ _I_ _do not owe you ten bucks, Tom —”_

_Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beeeeeeeeep…_

Thankfully, the ’bots seemed to take Tom’s suggestion to heart as they moved in a squabbling, scrabbling mass out of the room. As the arguing faded, Joel and Mike reluctantly separated before Joel cast a chagrined glance at Mike, though he couldn’t hide his amusement.

Nor could Mike, who chuckled and shrugged again. “Well,” he said, “at least they’re okay with it.”

Joel laughed. “Yeah.” After a moment, he added, “I can’t wait for this weekend.”

“Me, too.” Mike smiled, now looking a little mischievous. “You know, I can still move out if you want —”

Joel shoved him playfully. “Oh, no. Don’t think you can get away from me that easily.”

Mike laughed tenderly. “Good. Because, to be honest, our room is pretty empty without you in it.”

 _Our room._ Unexpectedly, Joel felt a quiet warmth spread through him at those two small words. Suddenly they meant so much more than just simple sleeping arrangements.

Mike was moving towards him now, reaching for him. “Come here, you.”

Joel was confused until Mike pulled him into a hug, his embrace gentle but secure.

“I don’t know what this is yet, Mike,” Joel said, quietly so only Mike could hear, “but I do know that I want to be with you.”

“We’ll figure this out, Joel,” Mike said softly. “You and me.”

“Together?” Joel asked hopefully.

He felt Mike nod into his shoulder. “Together.”

No other words were needed as they hugged for the second time, ever; at a distance it would have been impossible to see where one ended and the other began. As Joel let himself sink into Mike’s arms while holding him up, he was silently grateful to the ’bots and their betting for pushing him to act.

He would always wonder if that had been their plan all along.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Well, it only took them halfway through the story to admit it. ;) Still, to quote another Lenny Kravitz song, it ain’t over till it’s over. They still have a little ways to go before happily ever after. I hope you’ll stick around to see how it all unfolds. :) Thank you for reading, and special thanks to those who have been kind enough to kudos/comment; every single one has brightened my day. You are all awesome. :)_


	7. It Can’t Be Forever

_ “Listen to your heart. Hold your head up high and have no fear of being wrong. It can’t be, it can’t be forever. Till it’s too late…” _

_ ~ “It Can’t Be Forever”, Ephraim Lewis _

 

Like most working people, Joel sometimes felt the weekend couldn’t come soon enough, but the week leading up to his date with Mike felt torturously long. He was glad they were waiting till then, when they’d have had a chance to recover from working all week, but at the same time he just wanted to have their date.

Not because he saw this as something to get over with — far from it. No; if he and Mike were going to be together, he wanted to start as soon as possible. A far cry from the angst he’d been feeling over the mere idea just a couple weeks ago.

That didn’t mean his nerves weren’t already completely shot, however.

Since Mike was letting him take the lead, Joel had been left to decide what they would do. Going to the movies was neither very social nor original, and Joel was already nervous enough without having to worry about keeping a meal down. Drinking was definitely not an option, tempting as it might be. He finally decided on just going for a walk. Without needing to corral the ’bots every other minute, maybe they would be able to at least talk. Kendra needed some convincing to trade her Saturday night plans for babysitting the ’bots, but once Joel explained why he needed a babysitter — and what she’d be paid — she quickly agreed. (“You’ve probably heard this already, boss, but it’s _about_ _time_.”)

Saturday night somehow came too quickly and not soon enough. As Kendra busied herself in the kitchen, the ’bots waited in the living room watching Joel and Mike put their shoes on.

“Call if you’re going to be late,” said Gypsy.

“Watch out for snakes!” said Tom.

“Don’t use tongue,” said Crow.

 _“Crow!_ ” Joel admonished as he smoothed his hair for the thousandth time.

“Learn from my mistakes, Joel.”

Joel decided not to ask _what_ mistakes Crow might be referring to as Mike opened the door. “Be good for Kendra, you guys.”

“We’ll have fun,” Kendra reassured him as she emerged from the kitchen, Dr Pepper in hand. “Now get going, boss.” As the door closed behind them, Joel heard her ask, “You guys ever played _Catan_?”

Together, they left the apartment building and got into Joel’s car. The drive to Maple Grove Central Park passed in comfortable silence, even though Joel wondered if this might not be a good thing. What was he supposed to say? Was he even supposed to say anything? Normally, this would have been the time for the usual getting-to-know-you questions, but he and Mike had already spent the last few months going over all that. Of course he didn’t yet feel like they knew each other inside and out, but since this was supposed to be a date, maybe they should try to have a conversation that they might not have had when they were just friends.

And that would entail…what, exactly?

_So, Mike, what are your thoughts on sex?_

Oh, _that_ would go over well.

He’d known several couples who’d started out as friends for months, even years, before getting together. They’d all seemed happy, and he’d always thought that friendship seemed like a great foundation for a relationship. Too bad he hadn’t thought to ask any of them for advice on how they had made that shift.

_Guess I’m going to find out for myself._

He glanced over at Mike, who was looking thoughtfully out the window. He seemed calm, but as usual Joel didn’t trust himself to read him correctly. If only because he was too preoccupied trying to keep his own nerves in check.

The evening sun was low in the sky, but not close to setting, when they arrived at the park, bathing the landscape and buildings in a rosy golden light. Joel began to feel more at ease as they got out of the car and made their way to the storm pond, past the playground and brightly colored fountain. The air was starting to cool, and there was a light breeze picking up. The sounds of laughing children, barking dogs, rustling trees and chattering families filled the air. As they approached the pond, Joel finally started to feel like this might not be such a bad idea after all.

They started walking around the pond, making light conversation between them about the usual topics: work, the ’bots, ConGypsCo, gossip from around the apartment building. Some of their neighbors had children in elementary school, and Crow and Tom had begun to make friends with them. Gypsy was busier than ever getting her branch office up and running, and Cambot had joined a local photography club. He might never have said so, but Joel and Mike knew he was happy to be able to use his lens for what _he_ wanted to record for a change.

Their walk and talk would have all gone much more smoothly had Joel not kept tripping over his own feet.

The first time, he and Mike had just laughed it off. The second time, ten minutes later, he nearly fell into another couple walking the trail, who were fortunately very polite and understanding, but Joel didn’t miss the look of concern on Mike’s face. When it happened again fifteen minutes later, Mike grabbed Joel’s arm before he could tumble.

“Sorry, sorry,” Joel mumbled. “I’m not normally this clumsy, I promise.”

“I know,” Mike said, gently releasing his arm after making sure he could stand properly. “Are you feeling okay?”

“Yeah. I’m not dizzy or anything, just…”

Mike placed a hand on his shoulder, turning him so they faced each other. He smiled. “You should really just relax, you know.”

Joel smiled ruefully. “Am I that obvious?”

Mike shrugged. “Only to me.” He blinked after a moment. “Um…that sounded a little more romantic in my head.”

Joel chuckled, feeling more tension rush from his body. “It’s okay. I understand.”

“Good. Why don’t we sit down for a minute?”

Joel agreed; they walked another twenty feet or so before finding an unoccupied bench. They sat there in silence for a minute or two, watching other people and dogs walk by, admiring the ripple of the sun’s light over the pond like hammered gold.

“You don’t have to be so nervous, you know,” Mike said. He looked at Joel, smiling. “It’s just me.”

“I know,” Joel admitted. “But — well, that’s why I’m so nervous. It _is_ you.”

“So pretend it’s not me.”

“What?”

Mike shrugged. “Pretend it’s not me with you now. What would you do then?”

 _Humiliate myself spectacularly?_ was the first thought that popped into Joel’s head, but he quickly discarded it. No negativity was going to ruin this night. He cast about for an honest answer, but quickly realized there was only one.

“Mike, _you_ are with me. Why would I want to imagine anyone else?”

His knees buckled at the soft smile Mike gave him in response. Then, boldly, Joel said, “Well, when I’ve gone on walks with people before, I like to do this.”

Before he could lose his nerve, he reached for Mike’s hand. Mike didn’t pull away. They were holding hands now, properly this time. Instead of the shock he’d felt the first time they’d accidentally touched, Joel felt a softer, sweeter warmth sweeping through him, similar to what he’d felt the first time they’d hugged. It was like a key fitting into a lock, or the moments when he’d activated the ’bots for the first time and watched them hum to life in front of him. This was how it was supposed to be.

Smiling at each other, they stood up and started walking again. Joel was much more coordinated this time, his hand in Mike’s, and the conversation between them carried on as normal. They passed other couples talking and walking hand-in-hand, and Joel felt as though he and Mike fit right in with all of them.

“We should go on a star walk sometime,” Joel said at one point, when they’d walked about three-quarters around the pond. “There’s a couple places I like to go where you can see the stars really clearly. It’s where I saw some of the constellations for our room.”

Mike nodded. “I’d like that. I’d like to see more of those.”

“Do you know how astronomers find exoplanets?” Joel asked him.

Mike looked confused. “Exo-what?”

“Exoplanets,” Joel repeated. He had no idea what had started him on this random line of trivia, but perhaps it was knowing Mike wouldn’t be bored by his interest in astronomy. “Planets not in our solar system that orbit their own stars.”

“Oh. No. How do they find them?”

“The wobbles of starlight.”

Mike tilted his head. “You had me up until ‘wobbles’.”

Joel laughed. “Well, when you’re studying things thousands of light-years away, trying to find an exoplanet is kind of like spotting a firefly next to stadium lights. Basically, astronomers study the spectrum of a star’s light and look for changes in the color, among other things. That’s how they can tell that a planet is in tow.”

“Wow. That’s really interesting. Can they tell anything else?”

“Absolutely. They can learn about the planet’s size, its atmosphere…”

Joel talked for a bit longer about exoplanets as they kept walking, and Mike listened intently, seeming to absorb every word. The sunlight was starting to fade, but neither of them noticed.

“After I got back to Earth,” Joel finally said, when he’d finished sharing everything he knew, “I’d look up at the stars and wonder if the SOL was making their light wobble. I wondered if anyone else could see it. Maybe someone else knew where it was, even if they didn’t know _what_ it was.”

Mike nodded. “That’s an interesting thought.” As they stopped walking, he looked at Joel curiously. “Did you look for us a lot?”

Joel swallowed. “Every clear night.”

Mike raised his eyebrows in response, but said nothing.

All at once, before he could stop to think, Joel blurted out the one thing he’d wanted to say all along, from the day Mike and the ’bots came back into his life and maybe even before that, but never planned to.

“I’m sorry, Mike.”

He bit his lip too late to stop himself as Mike looked at him, not understanding. “Sorry? Sorry for what?”

“Nothing, forget it.” Joel tried to turn and keep walking, but Mike tightened his grip, stopping him.

“Joel, what are you talking about? Why are you apologizing? You didn’t do anything wrong. At least, nothing I know about.”

“Oh, _you_ don’t know?” Joel shot back. “I left you and the ’bots in space, and that’s _nothing_ to you?”

Once again, his mouth was racing ahead of his brain. As soon as the question tumbled out, Joel felt the blood drain from his face. Good thing it was starting to get dark out.

Mike’s shocked, confused expression slowly gave way to one of comprehension, then compassion. “Oh. Oh, I see what this is about.”

“Do you?” Joel retorted, unable to hold back the words even as he once again regretted saying them.

Well, he had certainly gotten his wish to have a conversation with Mike that they would not have had as just friends. Except this was _not_ a conversation he’d wanted to have with Mike. Ever.

“Let’s sit down,” was all Mike said.

Joel wordlessly followed him to another bench a short distance away. They sat down, Joel pointedly avoiding looking at Mike. The park was starting to empty out; the only sounds around them were the gentle lapping of the pond against the shore, the chirping of crickets, and the evening wind stirring the leaves.

“Joel…” Mike said eventually. “I’m not mad at you for that. I never have been.”

Joel glanced at him suspiciously. “Why? I’d be mad at me.”

“Clearly,” Mike said dryly. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Joel, I can only speak for myself, but I know you risked a lot even trying to get up there in the first place. Trying to take all of us back would have been even more dangerous — you must have known that.”

“I could have _tried,”_ Joel muttered, his voice trembling. “I could have planned better.” He looked at Mike for the first time. “I could have come back for you all.”

Mike looked at him sympathetically. “That’s why you’re so upset? That you didn’t come back? Frankly, I’m still amazed you even took the chance one time — not just for the ’bots, but for me. I certainly didn’t expect you to take those risks again. I don’t think the ’bots did, either.”

“I could have _stayed_ ,” Joel mumbled. “You didn’t have to be alone up there.”

“Alone?” Mike scoffed. “You do know I was constantly monitored by mad scientists and had four robots with no concept of privacy or personal space keeping me company? Sometimes the shower was the only place I could really be alone.”

Joel chuckled without humor, remembering those days well. He sighed. He could have done it again — would have done it again, without question, had he just thought about it a little more.

Mike rested his arms on the back of the bench, stretching his legs. “Joel, are you forgetting it was Gypsy who helped you escape? Sure, she thought they were going to kill you, but if she’d known about that escape pod sooner, I’m sure she would have gotten you to use it. She would have _made_ you use it — probably by knocking you out and then stuffing you in there before launch.”

Joel laughed, a little more sincerely this time, and Mike laughed with him. That _did_ sound like something Gypsy would do. Crow and Tom probably would have jumped on him to stuff him in, too.

“I would have taken them all if I could,” Joel said softly.

Mike nodded. “I know. They do, too.”

Silence fell between them again for a few minutes.

“Joel,” Mike said quietly, leaning forward to look at him, “you’ll drive yourself mad thinking about what you _could_ or _should_ have done. Trust me. You stayed — well, mostly sane up there for five years. Don’t go crazy now that you’re home. Don’t let the Mads take that from you, too.”

“I know, but…” Joel struggled with how to phrase what he was feeling. “It’s not _then_ that worries me, it’s _now_. How — how can you forgive me? How I can ever make up to you all for what I did — or didn’t do?”

“Make it up to us?” Mike frowned. “Joel, what do you — _oh_.” He looked at Joel incredulously. “Is that why you did all this? Why you hired me and —?”

“No, no!” Joel quickly shook his head. “I won’t lie, that was a little part of it. But I didn’t do anything out of pity, or in exchange for your forgiveness. I needed help at the shop and thought you’d be perfect. And…” He trailed off, staring across the pond for a minute before looking back at Mike. “I really just wanted us all to be together.”

Mike nodded, smiling a little. “I did, too. And so did the ’bots.” He tilted his head. “Doesn’t it mean anything to you that we all wanted to be with you?”

Joel had no response to that.

“Look, I can’t speak for the ’bots. Maybe you should talk to them yourself. But look at them. I’ve never seen them happier. If they were mad at you — which I don’t think they were — they seem to have gotten over it. They’re just happy to spend time with you again. They _wanted_ to find you. They wanted us to be a family. And _I’m_ not mad at you.” Mike looked hard at Joel. “Joel, I think the only one who needs to forgive you…is _you._ ”

Joel looked at him despairingly. “How am I supposed to do that?”

Mike shrugged. “I don’t know. I think that’s something you have to figure out for yourself. But not on your own.”

“Not on my own?”

Mike shook his head. “Not anymore.” He reached for Joel’s hand, squeezing it. Joel swallowed hard.

“Joel, if not for what you did, I wouldn’t be here with you right now. The ’bots wouldn’t be here. Focus on that. Maybe it took a little longer than we would have liked, but we made it back, and we’re with you, and we’re not going anywhere.”

“And…and what if you and I don’t work out?” Joel asked timidly. “What then?”

Mike exhaled. “Yeah, we never really talked about that, did we?”

Joel shook his head. Mike didn’t respond immediately, gazing thoughtfully into the distance for a minute or two, before turning back to look at Joel with a surprisingly serious expression.

“Does it help to know that I’m scared of losing you, too?”

The question was simple, but Joel had no response, trying to keep eye contact with Mike as he attempted to sort through the turmoil of thoughts and emotions the question had provoked. Mike nodded, his hand tightening around Joel’s again as if worried he might slip from his grasp.

“Joel, believe me, I gave this a _lot_ of thought before we had that talk. I can’t imagine not having you in my life, and it’s not just because you gave me a job or a place to live, or because the ’bots need you, too. But after a while, I realized that the chance to be with you was worth that risk. If I was that afraid to lose you, maybe we really could have something great. You took a huge risk for me once, before you even knew me. Why couldn’t I do that for you?

“I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow, or next week, or ten years from now. Which is why I want to be with you now. I don’t want to wonder about what we _could_ have had, if we can have it now.” Mike blinked, then shook his head. “Wow, that didn’t sound _nearly_ as clunky in my head. Please tell me that made sense.”

“Yeah, it did,” Joel reassured him. “And, you know…you’re right.”

Mike raised an eyebrow. “Did I just hear _you_ admit that _I’m_ right?”

“…Yes,” Joel admitted wryly. “Remember it. It won’t happen again.”

“We’ll see about that.” Mike looked at him triumphantly; Joel rolled his eyes, before becoming serious again.

“Mike…” Joel didn’t know what else to say, but one thing came to mind. “Thank you.”

Mike nodded. “I feel like _I_ should be thanking _you_.”

They sat quietly for a while longer, just being together, as the evening light continued to fade.

“We should probably get going,” Mike said, checking his watch. “The park’ll be closing soon.”

“Okay.” Joel nodded. He looked at Mike mischievously. “I don’t normally ask this on the first date, but…do you want to come back to my place?”

Mike laughed. “As if I could do anything else.”

Joel’s heart thudded a little as he briefly pondered what Mike might really be saying, then shook it off. It was just a joke. Right?

They made their way back to the car, only — reluctantly — releasing their hands when it was time to get in.

“Let’s do this again soon,” Mike said as they started for home.

“Yeah,” Joel agreed. Already his mind was brimming with all the possibilities of places they could go and things they could do, with or without the ’bots. “Hope the ’bots didn’t give Kendra too hard a time.”

“She does have two younger brothers,” Mike pointed out.

“True.”

They arrived home to find, miraculously, everything in one piece, and Kendra lying on the floor in front of the TV watching an old sci-fi movie, ankles crossed in midair and her chin propped on her fists, blue-tinted hair spilling down her neck. Gypsy was beside her, Cambot hovered near her shoulder, and Tom and Crow were perched on her back, nudging each other over her head.

She looked up as the door opened, grinning widely. “Told you we’d have fun.”

Joel and Mike laughed. Yes, Kendra was definitely babysitting again.

o~O~o

Much later, after Kendra had gone home and the ’bots had been sent to bed (not that they would stay there for long), Joel and Mike were getting ready for bed themselves.

Having changed and brushed his teeth, Joel walked into the bedroom to find Mike sitting on his bed, seemingly lost in thought. He looked up as Joel closed the door.

“Hey, could I talk to you for a sec?” Mike patted the bed next to him.

Joel was tired, but curious. “Sure.” He sat next to Mike.

“Look, before I ask you this, you don’t have to say yes. You can even tell me that I’m an idiot and to never touch you again. I can live with that.”

Joel raised an eyebrow. Now this was interesting. “I don’t think that’s likely, Mike, but what is it?”

Mike took a deep breath. “I was thinking…if we’re going to be together, I don’t see why we can’t sleep together.”

As Joel’s eyes grew egg-sized, Mike immediately realized what he had said and smacked his forehead. “No, no, _no_ , not _remotely_ what I meant. Wow, did _that_ come out wrong. Let me try that again.”

Mike exhaled, flustered now, flushed with embarrassment and barely able to look at Joel. “Joel, just to be clear, I don’t want to have sex with you. Well…I do, but not tonight. Or tomorrow night. Unless you want to, tonight or tomorrow night or any other night after that, whenever you’re ready. I just didn’t think —”

In spite of himself, Joel laughed. Mike was somehow at his most adorable during his most awkward moments — which were many. “Maybe you should start over.”

“Yeah. Good thinking.” Mike steadied himself, waiting until his blush had dissipated before he looked at Joel again. Joel sat patiently, waiting.

“Joel, if you want, you can sleep in my bed with me tonight.”

Joel blinked. “Really?” The thought had briefly crossed his mind, but he hadn’t known how to bring it up.

Mike nodded. “You don’t have to sleep alone anymore.”

“And we don’t have to —”

Mike shook his head firmly. “ _Just_ sleeping. We won’t do anything else until _you’re_ ready.”

“And — if I’m never ready?” Joel had wondered about that, too. He might no longer be afraid of being with Mike, but…giving him everything? He had no idea if or when he might be ready for that, much as he might want it.

Mike shrugged. “That’s okay, too.”

“Really?” Joel couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Mike, I — you can’t —”

“Joel,” Mike said gently, “I’d be happy to have sex with you, but I don’t need sex to be happy with you. Really.”

“You don’t?”

Mike shook his head. “No. I just need _you_.”

Before the moment could get too serious, he held up his hands, wiggling his fingers. “Fortunately, I also have two working hands.”

They laughed, and Joel instantly felt better.

“No wonder you’ve been going through lotion so quickly,” Joel said slyly.

Mike sighed. “And here I was hoping you wouldn’t notice.”

“Wasn’t me who was using it. Are you forgetting who does the shopping around here?”

Mike shrugged. “I dunno. It’s just, since we got together…” He trailed off, grinning at Joel. “It’s hard for me to think about anything but you.”

Joel raised his eyebrows suggestively. “Just so you know…saying things like that might move up the timetable.”

“I’ll have to remember that.” Mike reached for his hand, squeezing it lightly. “So, your bed or mine?”

Joel didn’t hesitate. “Yours.”

Mike smiled. “Good.” He got up and turned off the lights as Joel settled in. They lay side-by-side for a minute before quickly realizing a minor problem.

“You know,” Joel said, “your bed is pretty small.”

Mike snorted. “Wasn’t planning on sharing it with anyone when I got it, Tom and Crow notwithstanding.” After a moment, he added, more to himself, “Wasn’t thinking I’d have anyone to share it with.”

“Tom and Crow?” Joel asked, choosing to ignore the last part of what Mike had said.

Mike shrugged. “When I first got to the SOL, and after we got back to Earth, they climbed into my bed sometimes in the middle of the night. They said they were just cold. I’m not so sure about that.”

“Huh.” Joel remembered Tom and Crow doing the same thing to him occasionally not long after he had built them, but hadn’t thought about that in years.

“Well,” he said after a minute, “there is one thing we can do that might make it better.”

“You’re not going back to your own bed, are you?” Mike sounded a little worried. He didn’t need to be.

“No.” Instead, Joel moved closer to Mike, rolling onto his side and pressing his back against him. Mike immediately got the message, draping his arm over Joel’s waist and pulling him closer. Joel’s hand found Mike’s and their fingers locked together at his waist as their legs entwined.

“You’re right,” Mike said. “This is much better. Although…” He paused, and Joel could feel his smile against his shoulder. “I think there’s more than one thing we can do.”

“Guess we’ll have to keep experimenting, then.”

“Yeah. But maybe we shouldn’t call it ‘experimenting’.”

They chuckled for a minute, then settled down, their breathing synchronizing. As Joel felt Mike relax against him and his breaths deepening, his last thought before falling asleep was that, for once, everything was absolutely perfect.

After that night, the air mattress was deflated and returned to the closet. It never came out again, except for guests.

o~O~o

As the weeks went by, they dated occasionally as time and babysitters permitted. With each date, Joel felt himself relaxing and opening up more. Dating Mike really wasn’t so different from the dates he had been on before — except it kind of was. Conversation flowed between them as easily as sound on a breeze. Mike _listened_ to what Joel had to say, engaged with him, seemed genuinely interested in every word that came out of his mouth, even if he didn’t understand all of them. For Joel’s part, he always looked forward to discussing all kinds of topics with Mike, even if he wasn’t sure it would be something Mike would know anything about. Mike either surprised him by turning out to have some knowledge on the subject or being willing to listen to Joel explain it to him and offering his insights (even when they weren’t particularly deep).

Gradually, Joel found himself becoming more physical with Mike as well. They still held hands at every opportunity, but more contact was happening between them now, whether it was Mike resting a hand on Joel’s arm or Joel instinctively reaching to touch Mike’s shoulder when laughing at some quip he’d made. It seemed so natural Joel hardly even noticed it was happening. Cuddling while they slept was now a given, and Joel couldn’t remember ever having slept more soundly.

Long ago, when fretting about what he was supposed to do now that he was In a Relationship, he’d been told by a more experienced friend that he’d “just know” what to do when the time was right. That hadn’t seemed helpful at all, but now he understood. With everyone else he had been with before, he had worried and obsessed over every move, every reply, every new step, wondering what it might mean, how it might be interpreted. With Mike, it was different. Sure, he still often pondered their interactions, but he never felt as though he _had_ to think about them. He, somehow, instinctively knew how to react, how to behave, how to gauge what Mike was feeling.

He had always known relationships took work, and as with every other job he’d had, he threw himself into it body and soul. But Mike was the first person with whom it didn’t _feel_ like work. Getting together with Mike might have been the hardest thing he’d ever done, but _being_ with him felt effortless.

So why couldn’t he shake the fear that at any moment, he’d blink and it would all be gone?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Oof, parts of this chapter had to be dragged, kicking and screaming, out of my head, even as they surprised me. (Most of their date conversation? Wasn’t supposed to happen until later. They had other ideas.) Then I took a break, came back and just wrote up the rest. You never know sometimes. I may freely indulge in angst like I occasionally do in chocolate *g*, but that doesn’t mean it gets easier to write. And perhaps it shouldn’t._  
>  _I first learned about exoplanets and their discovery at a Smithsonian Air & Space show in 2012. Joel’s line about the firefly and stadium lights is a paraphrased quote from that show. Exoplanets have fascinated me ever since; someday I would love to write a story titled “The Wobbles of Starlight”. Just because. You can learn more about exoplanets [here](https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/)._  
>  _Also — spot the_ Batman Beyond _quote, win a prize!*_  
>  _*There is no prize, except the distinction of knowing that you are just as nerdy as I am. *g*_


	8. Who Found Who

_“Don’t throw away the chance, ’cause it might be your last, and I won’t let you forget who found who.”_

_~ “Who Found Who”, Jellybean feat. Elisa Fiorillo_

 

Over the next few weeks following their first date, Joel took Mike’s suggestion about talking to the ’bots. On quiet days when they had plenty of time, he took each of them aside to talk in private. Mike, of course, always understood and kept the other three occupied or took them out for as long as necessary.

He started with the easiest conversation first — Gypsy. He hadn’t planned it that way, but that was how the timing worked out. She was spending more and more time at work as she continued to expand ConGypsCo, so Joel met her for lunch one afternoon in Minneapolis, at a favorite café near her office.

“Gypsy,” he said, once the waitress had brought their food, “were you ever mad at me?”

Gypsy considered him as she took a gulp of iced tea. Not very ladylike, perhaps, but she wasn’t quite capable of taking sips. “Well, there was that one time I crushed you when —”

“Right, but besides that,” Joel quickly interrupted. For God’s sake, would his gravestone read: “Here Lies Joel Robinson, Who Was Crushed By Gypsy That One Time”? “I mean, were you mad at me when I left the satellite and didn’t come back for you?”

“You mean, the first time or the second time?” Gypsy swallowed half of her egg salad sandwich in one bite.

Oh, this was going _splendidly._ “Either one.”

“Not the first time, Joel. No, no, I _wanted_ you to go. You know that. Even before I thought they were going to kill you — _really_ kill you. I always wondered if they were already killing you. I just didn’t know when you would die. I never wanted _that_ to happen.”

Well, this had suddenly taken a rather dark turn. As nice as it was for Gypsy to reaffirm that she didn’t want him to die, Joel had no desire to find out what she meant by the Mads “already killing” him. Instead, he asked, “And what about the second time?”

Gypsy glared at him. “And who was going to keep the satellite running if I left? Who was going to keep everyone else from dying _after_ you saved us? Huh?”

“I could have taken all of you,” Joel said weakly.

Gypsy shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. It was your first trip to space. You didn’t know what you were doing. No way would you have risked our lives like that, trying to bring us all back.”

“I could have stayed with you all on the satellite,” Joel tried.

Gypsy shook her head again, harder this time, nearly knocking into an unsuspecting passerby. “I would _never_ have let that happen. You suffered enough, Joel. I wouldn’t let you go through that again. Even if you wanted to.”

“Even if it was for Mike?” Joel offered.

Gypsy considered for a minute before bobbing in her head in a sort of shrug. “That would be very nice of you, but Mike can take care of himself just fine. Some of the time.”

Of that, Joel had absolutely no doubt.

“So…you’re not mad?”

“About that? No. What a silly thing to get mad about. What’s important is that we’re all together again. The way we should be.” And with that, she changed the subject as she popped open her briefcase and asked Joel for his opinion on some new company protocols she was thinking of implementing. Joel happily read and discussed them with her as he ate his lunch; never had turkey and bacon tasted so good.

His talk with Cambot was also surprisingly easy; to anyone but Mike, their chats might sound one-sided, but never for him. In a series of beeps, nuzzles and bobs, Cambot reassured Joel that he had never once been upset with him, either time he had left. He had been built for a simple, but important purpose — to record and document — and it was a purpose he was happy with. As much as he enjoyed his new freedom on Earth, he would have been content to stay and record on the SOL for as long as he was needed. He’d never felt abandoned, not so long as there was something that needed filming.

Tom was next, and as usual Joel wondered what truths he might be saying in jest.

“Of course I wasn’t mad at you,” Tom told him as they walked (and hovered) through Maple Grove Central Park. “I got to be in charge for once, after you left the first time. That was nice.”

“And the second time?”

Tom bobbed in his own version of a shrug. (Joel had to admit that until recently, he had never given much thought to just how useful shoulders were for certain purposes.) “You said you thought staying on the satellite would make a man out of Mike. Well, who better to help him with that than me? Gypsy? Crow? I don’t think so.”

“That’s a fair point,” Joel acknowledged.

“See? You created me, and then you gave me two great opportunities! How can I be mad at you for that?”

“You know, Tom,” Joel said, “it’s okay to be a little mad at me. I mean, I kind of deserve it.”

Tom turned to look at him indignantly. “I don’t need your permission to be mad at you, Joel. I can be mad at you whether you want me to be or not. And I’m not. Never was. Okay?”

“Okay, okay. I get it.” Joel held up his hands in surrender. “You’re right, Tom. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t tell you how to feel.”

Tom huffed. “You _taught_ me how to feel. Isn’t that enough?” Before Joel could answer, Tom was quickly distracted by an adorable boxer mix running up the path to greet him, and that was the end of that discussion.

Crow was the last to go, and the hardest conversation to have. Mike was alerted ahead of time, and so he took Tom and Cambot to the library, while Gypsy went over to Kendra’s for a girls day. In Joel’s mind, anyone who would willingly take Tom and Cambot to the library, without any assistance, just so he could talk to Crow alone, was what his mother had always called a “keeper”. Not that he had ever doubted that.

“No, I’m not mad at you, Joel.” Crow stared determinedly at the opposite wall from the couch, pointedly refusing to look at him.

Joel might not have programmed this aspect of Crow, but it was a blessing that he was a terrible liar. “Crow,” he said patiently, “you _sound_ mad. And that’s okay.”

“Oh, _now_ you’re paying attention?” Crow retorted. “Five years without even a phone call or a postcard, and then you come back and just take off again, and then _I_ had to find _you,_ and _now_ you want to talk to me? Kendra’s dad lives in Sioux City, and _he_ sends her postcards every year!”

Joel made a mental note to ask Kendra what exactly she and Crow had discussed about their respective parental issues the last time she babysat. “Crow,” he said, “I’m not trying to make excuses, but I had no idea how to communicate with you guys. And even if I could, I didn’t know what the Mads might do if they found out. That doesn’t mean I didn’t want to, believe me. I thought about you every single day after I got back.”

Crow looked at him, surprised. “You did?”

Joel nodded. “Being in Australia was great, but every day I saw or did something that made me think, ‘Crow would love this’ or ‘What would Crow think about this?’ I always thought about you, right up until we all got back together.”

“You know,” Crow said, shifting a little in his seat, “you’ve never really told me about what happened after you got back to Earth, and before you came back to the satellite.”

“You’re right, Crow,” Joel said after a moment. He hadn’t even talked much about that time in his life with Mike, not quite feeling ready to remember it. Maybe now was the time to start. “Do you want to hear about it sometime?”

Crow nodded. “Yeah. Not now, but maybe later tonight. Just try not to be as long-winded as you normally are, okay?”

Joel resisted an eyeroll. “I’ll try. You stop me if I start rambling. Deal?”

“Deal.” Crow paused, seeming to gather his thoughts. “Actually, now that I think about it, one good thing came out of all this. Besides you and Mike, I mean.”

“Yeah? What’s that?” Joel felt a little warmth at Crow’s offhand mention of him and Mike as a “good thing”.

“I guess now I _know_ you’re not my real father.”

Joel stared, stunned. _“What?_ ”

“Well, my real father might have left me once by accident, but no way would he have left me _twice_.”

Joel sighed quietly — not out of annoyance, but resignation. He had been dreading this turn in the conversation, but it was inevitable. “Crow,” he said after a moment, “I’m sorry. I regret leaving you again more than anything else I’ve ever done.”

“So why did you do it?” Crow demanded.

Joel exhaled. “I — I didn’t want to risk taking you all back. It was hard enough to figure out how to get myself into space without blowing myself up — I wasn’t even sure if _I_ was going to make it home. And if reentry didn’t kill me, maybe the Mads would.”

Crow stared. “You…you thought it would be a one-way trip?”

“Yeah. Maybe.”

There was silence for a few minutes after that.

“I bet Kendra’s dad wouldn’t go into space for her like you did for me,” Crow said eventually.

“It’s not a competition, Crow,” Joel said neutrally. Kendra didn’t talk much about her parents’ divorce, but he gathered it had not been amicable. “But when I _did_ make it back, I almost wished I hadn’t.”

“Really?” Crow eyed him carefully.

“Yeah. Knowing that I _could_ have taken you all back…it was awful. I cried for four hours after I landed. I didn’t shower or sleep for three days. My coworkers threatened to take me to the hospital if I didn’t eat something. I couldn’t even keep track of how much weight I lost. I was a wreck.” He hadn’t even told Mike about that.

“You were?” Crow considered him thoughtfully. “Too bad you couldn’t _keep_ the weight off, huh?”

“Yeah. Too bad.” Of course that was what Crow took away from that painful anecdote. Joel viewed it as a good thing; if he was cracking jokes, he probably wasn’t mad. “Crow, I’m not trying to make you feel guilty for being mad at me. You have every right to feel whatever you want. I just want you to know how bad I felt about leaving you again. I still do. If I could do anything differently, that would be it.”

“I know, Joel,” Crow said simply. “But…it’s kind of nice to hear you say it. And…” He glanced around the apartment. “I think things still worked out okay.”

Joel only nodded in response. Again, there was silence between them, but it was soon broken by Crow. “Joel, could we maybe talk about this more later?”

“Of course. Crow, we can talk about this as much as you want. You can yell at me, tell me off, say whatever you want. I probably deserve all of it. If it makes you feel even a little bit better, please say it. Or we don’t have to talk about it again. Whatever you want, whenever you want.”

“Okay.” Crow nodded. “Thanks, Joel.”

Joel reached over to pat him; Crow did not move away. “Of course.”

They sat quietly for a little while, till they heard Tom’s voice echoing from down the hall.

“I did _not!_ ”

“Tom, it’s okay if you did. It’s a great ending. Look, even I got a little —”

“Oh, of course _you_ got all maudlin, Nelson! _I_ , thank God, did _not!_ ”

_Beep-beep-beep-beeeeeeep…_

“Oh, don’t you start too, Cambot!”

The apartment door was flung open then, and an indignant Tom hovered inside, huffing angrily, followed by Cambot and a bemused Mike.

Joel and Crow looked at each of them before Joel spoke. “Dare I ask?”

Mike shrugged. “There was a Chaplin film festival at the library today. Tom might have gotten a _little_ worked up at the end of _City Lights_ —” 

Crow quickly jumped up, pointing and laughing. “Haha! Servo’s a sap!”

 _“I did not cry!”_ Tom insisted hotly.

“I never said you did!” Crow pointed out triumphantly.

“Boys,” Joel said patiently, even knowing it probably wouldn’t help, “it’s okay. There’s nothing wrong with showing emotion. Look, I got pretty emotional when I first saw that ending —”

Cambot interrupted him with another series of beeps.

“What’s that, Cambot?” Crow held his hand to his head in an exaggerated “eavesdropping” gesture. “You say you’ve got photographic proof? Well, let’s see it!”

“Oh, don’t think I didn’t see _your_ lens getting all watery at the end, Cambot,” Tom retorted. “Which I could see _perfectly_ well, because unlike you and Mike, I did not cry —”

The spirited discussion that followed ultimately did not resolve the issue, but Joel was relieved to see things return to normal so quickly after his talk with Crow. In the days that followed, they had a few more talks, shorter and less somber than that first one, and by the last one Crow declared they didn’t need to talk about it anymore. Joel believed him.

“How do you feel now?” Mike asked him as they settled into bed that night, after his final talk with Crow.

“Better,” Joel answered, smiling as Mike reached over his chest and he wrapped his arm around Mike’s shoulders. “Much better.”

“Good. You think you can forgive yourself now?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I think so.” Joel wasn’t completely there yet, and didn’t know when he would be, but now he was at least ready to move past it, to stop letting the guilt eat him alive. Maybe some small part of him would always wish he had done something differently, but he didn’t have to keep punishing himself for it. He had his family back, and he’d made things right. That was more than enough.

“Just so you know, though,” he said, looking down at Mike in the crook of his shoulder, “I’m not done trying to make it up to you all.”

“Oh, is that so?” Mike pulled him just a bit closer, almost imperceptibly so, as his voice grew drowsier. “Well, if this is part of how you plan to do that, I can’t wait to see what else you’re going to try.”

 _Anything and everything,_ _Nelson,_ was Joel’s last thought before he drifted off. _Just you wait._

o~O~o

Any other person, Joel thought, would not have waited for him. Not just in terms of dating him, but kissing him, having sex with him — doing all the things couples were supposed to do. It was one thing to not jump into bed on the first date — something he had never done — but to go on several dates without so much as a kiss? Sure, they always held hands, sat or stood close together, had started having more intimate conversations, cuddled while watching TV, and, yes, shared a bed, but none of their affection was sexual, and Mike had never once tried to initiate anything. Joel was okay with that, but he had to wonder — how could Mike do it?

He finally got the chance to ask on their eighth date, as they sat at an outdoor café in downtown Osseo eating frozen yogurt in the early evening. It was early October, and still just warm enough for cold treats. Mike was adamant that they would keep eating frozen yogurt until the ground itself froze. Joel and the ’bots had no objection to that.

Downtown was unusually busy tonight, and plenty of people walked past their table as they sat talking and eating. It wasn’t like they were in the heart of Minneapolis, but Joel was surprised at how he and Mike could be in the midst of a crowd and yet disappear into it, no one acknowledging their presence, wrapped up in their own lives and business. He remembered what Mike had said about being surrounded by people, yet still feeling alone.

Hopefully, he thought, at least Mike didn’t feel alone anymore.

But since he’d gone this long without meaningful human connection, why hadn’t he tried anything with Joel?

“Mike?” he finally asked during a lull in the conversation, when their yogurt was almost done.

“Yeah?” Mike spooned another helping of bright blue cotton candy yogurt, dripping with marshmallow sauce and melted whipped cream, into his mouth, wincing as he bit down on the gummy frog that had come with it. “Ugh. I forgot how hard these things get when they’re cold.”

Joel set down his cup, aimlessly stirring its remains into soup as he looked Mike in the eye. “How can you be so patient with me?”

“What are you talking about?” Mike fruitlessly tried to chew the hardened gummy frog as he looked at Joel, not understanding.

“About us. What we do — or don’t do.” Joel gestured between them. “Aside from asking me to sleep with you — so to speak — you’ve never tried to go further. You haven’t even tried to kiss me.”

“Does that bother you?” Mike asked, finally swallowing the gummy frog once he was sure he wouldn’t choke on it.

“No.” Joel quickly shook his head. “I don’t mind at all. There’s no pressure. But…I don’t get it. Most people would have been all over me by now.”

Mike raised an eyebrow as he took another spoonful. “You’re giving yourself _far_ too much credit, Robinson.”

Joel rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean, Nelson.”

Mike shrugged, scooping up the last of his yogurt. “Well, I’ve learned a lot from the ’bots about patience.”

“Having it, or keeping it?”

“A little of both.”

Mike set down his cup, licking a smear of yogurt from his lip as he looked at Joel. Joel vainly tried to ignore the effect that small gesture had on him, focusing on Mike and not the warmth that was starting to seep through…certain areas.

“Joel, I may have gotten this whole thing started between us, but I want _you_ to decide where it goes. The night we got together, you made it clear you weren’t ready to rush into anything, and I’m okay with that. Believe me, I have never wanted anyone more than I want you. But that’s just it. I want _you._ Anything that happens between us is going to be because _you_ want it, not just because I want it, or because _you_ want it _for_ me. Do you understand?”

Joel swallowed hard and nodded. When Mike put it that way, he had to wonder — if Mike hadn’t finally given in and admitted his feelings, if he had left that up to Joel too, would they be sitting here now? Maybe it didn’t bear thinking about, but it was a bit disquieting nonetheless.

As if Mike had read his mind, he went on, “If this was the other way around, and I was nervous — not that I’m _not_ a little nervous, mind you — wouldn’t you be just as patient with me?”

As hard as it was for Joel to imagine that scenario, he had no trouble coming up with the answer. “Of course,” he said immediately, smiling at Mike. “You’re worth it.”

“What makes you think you aren’t, then?”

Joel froze, not having expected that. All of his thoughts instantly dried up, his smile disappearing. No, it wasn’t so much that he _thought_ he wasn’t worth all this trouble; he _felt_ he wasn’t worth it. But until right now, he had never really considered _why._

No one had ever asked.

“I don’t know,” he finally admitted. “Aside from the whole abandoning you in space thing —” Mike nodded without impatience, only understanding — “I guess I never thought I’d have someone like you. That I never deserved anyone like you. Someone who understands me. Who waits for me. Who _gets_ me.”

Mike studied him for a moment. “I’m not sure whether to be flattered that you think so highly of me or upset that you think so little of yourself.”

Joel just shrugged in response and returned to finishing off what was left of his yogurt soup. _He_ certainly didn’t know how to feel about that.

“What I _am_ sure about,” Mike said, reaching across the table for Joel’s hand, “is that you _are_ worth waiting for.” He smiled. “Truthfully, it’s kind of nice.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Mike’s smile softened. “I may have had sex within the last year, but I haven’t had this much affection in a long time.”

 _Goddammit._ Joel hoped he wasn’t blushing. Whenever Mike said things like that, Joel was overcome with a brief, mad impulse to jump him, tear his clothes off and have his way with him right then. Then, seconds later, the feeling would pass and Joel would remind himself the time wasn’t right yet. Soon, maybe, but not now.

Maybe Mike _did_ remember that saying things like that moved up the timetable.

“I already waited a long time just to find you.” Mike ran his thumb over Joel’s knuckles, sending a pleasant shiver down his spine. “What’s a little longer?”

Joel smiled. “You mean the last year?”

“Actually, I was thinking more like a lifetime.”

Oh, _wow._ Despite the heat now starting to permeate his body and the butterflies flitting in his stomach, Joel managed to say with a grin, “Kansas called. They want their corn back.”

Mike chuckled. “What can I say? You have a certain effect on me.”

“Oh, don’t try to pass the buck, Nelson.”

A sudden breeze nearly sent their empty cups flying. As Joel grabbed his, he looked up to see that it was suddenly much darker now, the evening stars having vanished. There was a moistness in the air he hadn’t noticed before.

“Hey, do you think —” he started to ask.

A crack of thunder from the sky was his answer.

They tossed their cups in a nearby trash can and rushed down the street to where they had parked, making it just in time for the rain to start falling. They had just gotten inside when the sky opened up and a downpour began hammering the car.

“I hate driving in the rain,” Joel said. “You mind if we wait it out for a bit?”

Mike shook his head. “Not at all.” He reached over and squeezed Joel’s hand, smiling. “Besides, Kendra doesn’t have to be home for another hour or so.”

“You know we’ll have to find someone else next year, when she’s at school.”

“Confident, aren’t you?” Mike grinned at him slyly; Joel smiled back. “Good thing that can wait till next year.”

They sat quietly in the car for several minutes, hand-in-hand, listening to the rain pounding down outside and watching the drops run down the windshield, making occasional bets on which would make it down first. Under any other circumstances, this would have been a dull, dreary wait-out for Joel, but now it felt cozy and romantic.

_God, when did I turn into such a sap?_

“You know,” Mike said, unwittingly interrupting that train of thought, “Crow asked me something the other day I never thought about before, and I didn’t know how to answer him.”

“Yeah? What was that?”

“Well, for starters, he asked what it is that we do on our dates. I told him, but he still didn’t understand. So then he asked me another question. Maybe you can help me with the answer.”

“I can try. What’s the question?”

Mike looked at him, tilting his head. “It’s a couple, really. What’s the difference between us hanging out before instead of now? What makes this a date?”

Joel already knew the answer. He smiled. “This.”

With that, he leaned over and kissed Mike.

The kiss was brief, but Joel put everything he had into it, everything he was — gentle, tender, loving, yet quietly determined. He reached up to grasp Mike’s shoulder, and Mike pulled him closer, kissing him back with the fierce determination that Joel knew he had in spades. The scent of Mike’s aftershave, the feel of Mike’s shirt beneath his fingertips, even the lingering sweetness of marshmallow sauce filled his head, overwhelmed his senses.

Joel’s fingers trembled, involuntarily, as they made their way to Mike’s neck, but as the kiss ended he felt something on top of them. As he and Mike broke apart, he realized Mike’s hand was now holding his.

Mike was smiling. “So…we can do that on a date?”

Joel grinned, feeling so light it seemed Mike’s grasp was the only thing keeping him on the ground. “Yeah.” Boldly, he added, “The ‘date’ is optional, though. And you don’t have to tell Crow that.”

“Good.” Mike was already moving in, adding in a whisper against Joel’s lips, “Because date or not, we’re going to be doing a _lot_ more of that.”

Joel didn’t have a chance to reply before Mike made good on his word.

The storm soon let up, though it took them a while to notice. (Kendra did, however, get home on time.)

o~O~o

As the end of the season approached, Joel was pleased to see that the shop had pulled in an excellent profit. Once he had crunched the numbers a bit and made sure they had enough to support themselves for at least the coming winter, he and Mike sat down and began to seriously discuss buying a house. Sure, they had only known each other for several months at that point, and had been dating for barely half that time, but this wasn’t anything they planned to rush into, either. They could at least start saving a little more so that when the time came, they could throw themselves wholeheartedly into the search without having to worry about finances.

Having had less steady work than Joel, Mike didn’t have as much in the way of savings, but Gypsy soon took care of that. Once she had learned they planned to buy a house, she wanted to contribute, but Joel and Mike had refused any gift or loan from her. As a compromise, she hired Mike for a data entry position at ConGypsCo’s branch office (after an exhaustive interview process, at her insistence). It wasn’t the most thrilling job, but Mike could do it, and Gypsy even said he could work from home and keep temping as long as he came into the office at least once a week. She did, however, make him promise to put at least half of his earnings toward the house payment. When Joel tried to ask exactly how much she was paying him, she screeched that that was none of his business.

“Unless,” she added in a calmer tone, “you two combine bank accounts or something.” If she noticed Joel’s blush, she didn’t comment.

Life went on as (relatively) normal in the Robinson-Nelson household, with Joel throwing himself into closing out the season with characteristic single-mindedness, and Mike doing his best to keep up and remind him to relax once in a while. Unfortunately, between Joel’s extra hours, Mike now working his second job, and trying to keep up with the ’bots and their mischief, they had little time for dating. It didn’t help that Kendra was now in the thick of senior year and had much less time to babysit. As she explained to Joel, “As much as I love them, boss, I’m not sure I can put ‘robot babysitter’ on my college applications.”

“Maybe if you were applying to MIT? Or Caltech?”

“Unfortunately, no. But it’s a nice thought.”

The ’bots were disappointed by this, too, as they had grown rather fond of Kendra, especially after she began to teach them lacrosse. She had decided that since they weren’t women — human women, at least — the rules of women’s lacrosse didn’t apply to them. This translated to lots of physical contact. Watching them play, Joel wasn’t entirely sure they were following any type of lacrosse rules, but anything that tired the ’bots out was good enough for him.

Who would they find when she was away at school next year? She was hoping to go to Ohio State, and her alternatives weren’t much closer to Minnesota. It wasn’t something Joel spent too much time thinking about for now, but the thought did cross his mind from time to time. It was just another worry to add to the ever-growing pile. What if they couldn’t find another babysitter? When would he and Mike be able to go out? Going to the grocery store together every week did not, in his mind, qualify as “going out”. Without dating, would they just become roommates who happened to kiss and share a bed? Late-night talking and kissing — two of his favorite things to do with Mike now — had also fallen by the wayside, as at the end of the day both of them were often too tired to do more than just collapse in bed. He’d seen plenty of couples, including his own parents, fall into that rut, and he refused to let the same thing happen to him and Mike. They were together, they were a _couple_ — that much was certain. But what else could they do to work on that?

Fortunately, he didn’t have to wait long for an answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Guess which part of this was hardest to write? I’m no stranger to writing difficult conversations, but_ good gravy, _the Joel-Crow talk was a serious challenge, for multiple reasons. There’s always a fine line to walk when writing natural-sounding, emotionally-charged dialogue with characters who are not very emotionally savvy — while adding a dash of humor and avoiding unintentional emotional manipulation, no less — but it’s a great exercise in letting the characters guide you through their talk, rather than making them spell everything out. I hope it worked this time!_  
>  _Joel’s three-day breakdown as described to Crow is drawn from a (mercifully brief) real-life experience of mine from years ago that was caused by a perfect storm of health problems and extreme stress. Not a fun time in my life, but one I find helpful to remember, if only as a reminder that no matter how bad things might seem, they will get better._


	9. Kiss From a Rose

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _This chapter is mostly just Joike romantic fluff with a dash of ’bot shenanigans, so if that’s not your bag, feel free to skip it. (Though…c’mon, you saw the tags. You made it this far. What did you expect? ^_~) Also, some of that fluff gets a bit…steamy in the second half. I’ll let you decide if that’s an incentive or a deterrent. ;)_

_“Now that your rose is in bloom, a light hits the gloom on the gray…”_

_~ “Kiss From a Rose”, Seal_

 

In early November, with the shop now closed for the season, Joel and Mike finally had a chance to go out again. They didn’t have the energy or money for much, so they kept it simple with dinner and a movie. Joel had almost forgotten how nice it was to have an _adult_ conversation alone with Mike, or just hold hands with him during a movie. If they sat in the back, there were also…alternative ways to spend the movie if it was boring — or even if it wasn’t.

As they returned from their date, chatting about nothing in particular, they heard the faint sounds of music as they approached their apartment. When they came closer to the door, the sounds of laughter and shuffling feet could be heard. Curious, Joel exchanged a glance with Mike before unlocking the door.

He opened it to reveal a scene neither was prepared for. Jazz music was playing on the stereo. The living room furniture had been pushed back to make space in the middle. Gypsy and Crow were locked together in a strange embrace as they spun around the room with the barest hint of coordination, Crow attempting to take steps and only just managing. A pretty blonde teenager was coasting around them, holding Tom at arm’s length as she did so. She looked up when the door opened and smiled in greeting, but didn’t stop moving.

“Hi!” she said cheerfully. “How was your night?”

“Fine, Daisy. What is going —” Joel started to ask, before Mike grabbed his shoulders. _“_ _Ah!”_

They ducked just in time to avoid Gypsy’s head smashing into them as she whirled past the door, her body coiled loosely around Crow, who was doing his best to keep up.

“Sorry!” Gypsy called out as she and Crow flew by. Crow seemed to be too busy trying to keep his feet on the ground to speak. “Daisy’s teaching us dancing!” she explained gleefully.

Daisy was Daisy Powell, Kendra’s girlfriend of just over a year, and the ’bots’ alternate babysitter when Kendra was unavailable. Daisy was more reserved than Kendra, but just as kind and playful with the ’bots, and they had taken a shine to her. Her sport of choice (as she insisted it was) was ballroom dancing, and Joel knew from Kendra that she had won medals in competition. Her skill was obvious as she nimbly danced the steps of what seemed (to Joel) to be the foxtrot, holding Tom in her outstretched hands and gliding around the living room in stocking feet, deftly avoiding Gypsy and Crow as they twirled past her. Judging by Tom’s laughter, he was having just as grand a time. Cambot moved between the two couples in time to the music, bobbing and dipping as he pleased.

“You know, Tom,” Daisy said as they passed by Joel and Mike, “you’re the best dance partner I’ve ever had. You’re so light on your feet!”

Joel and Mike were so amused by what they were seeing that they didn’t dare interrupt the fun. After a minute or two, Daisy tossed Tom lightly in the air, just enough for Crow to catch him as Gypsy released Crow and sidled up to join her. Joel had no idea how Daisy could dance a waltz with a robot who had no arms or legs, but somehow she managed.

Unfortunately, Crow wasn’t nearly as successful in his attempt, as he whirled around the room with Tom in his arms, attempting to mimic her movements. His grip wasn’t strong enough, and during a particularly fast spin Tom went sailing across the room, screaming as he careened toward the nearest wall.

Luckily, Joel dove and caught him just in time. Daisy and Gypsy came to a stop as well, as the last notes of the song played out. The seventeen-year-old was breathless, leaning on Gypsy’s head as the two of them shook with laughter.

“That was _fun!”_ Tom exclaimed from Joel’s arms. “Let’s do that again!”

“Next time, okay? I’ll see you all again soon — I hope.” After turning off the music and moving the furniture back with help from Mike, Daisy hugged the other three ’bots before she went to Joel. As she placed an arm around Tom, she whispered, “I’d tell them to practice, but I want you to invite me back.”

Joel laughed. “They’ll practice anyway. At least now they might be a little more coordinated when they’re running around destroying things.”

Once Daisy had been paid and left, Joel and Mike sent four tired robots to bed. There was some protesting, as was typical, but this time it seemed to be more for appearances’ sake. Daisy was definitely going to babysit again. Sure, they would probably be up again in a few hours, but for now there was peace and quiet.

Joel collapsed onto the couch, not tired enough to sleep but too relaxed to want to do much. It seemed Mike felt the same, as he sat next to Joel and leaned into him. Joel pulled him closer, and for a few minutes they cuddled in comfortable silence.

“You know,” Mike said thoughtfully, “Daisy gave me an idea.”

“Yeah? What’s that?”

Instead of answering, Mike rose and walked over to the stereo. He picked up the stack of CDs piled on top and began sorting through them.

“Mike?”

“Feel free to tell me if this is stupid,” Mike said as he shuffled through the CDs.

Joel immediately shook his head. “I’m sure it’s not.”

“Thanks. Anyway, I was thinking…” Mike looked up at him. “We’ve never danced together. We should.”

“Not what Daisy was doing, I hope?”

Mike chuckled. “No, though I’m sure she’d be happy to teach us. I was thinking something a little easier.” He finally picked a CD and put it in the stereo. “You do know how to slow dance, right?”

“Uh, yeah.” Joel hadn’t slow danced since middle school, and that had lasted maybe two minutes, but how hard was it to remember a dance with no steps?

Strains of “Kiss From a Rose” floated from the speakers as Mike walked over to Joel, who looked at him with raised eyebrows. “Since when do we have Seal in our collection?”

Mike shrugged. “Since I accidentally picked it up in that pile I got from the thrift store. Decided to keep it. Besides, this song was the best part of _Batman Forever_.” He smiled and held out a hand. “Shall we?”

Joel grinned and took Mike’s hand, getting to his feet. They walked to the center of the living room, standing there for a moment before Joel awkwardly reached to drape his arms around Mike’s neck. Mike placed his hands on Joel’s waist and they began to dance, soon finding their rhythm.

As they swayed to the music, Joel looked into Mike’s eyes and the rest of the world seemed to fade away. This wasn’t middle school anymore. While they hugged, kissed and cuddled frequently, being close to Mike like this, just holding each other and rocking together, was something new. He felt safe, warm, loved.

_Loved?_

Joel quickly pushed that thought away. He wasn’t going to mull and panic over it now. No, he was just going to enjoy this moment.

As they continued dancing, the beat picked up slightly and they dared to sway a little harder, turn a little faster. It was Joel who suddenly slid one leg behind Mike and let himself fall into a slight dip, laughing with Mike as Mike’s arms tightened around him, leaning into the dip with him.

Their eyes met, just inches apart, and the laughter faded. Joel would have sworn his heart skipped a beat as he lost himself in Mike’s gaze.

No matter how hard he fell, Mike would always be there to catch him.

After a few moments, he pressed his foot back to the ground and pulled himself up, taking the opportunity to kiss Mike as they returned to equal footing. Mike responded, kissing him slowly, thoroughly, and Joel pressed against him, melting into his arms.

Neither was quite ready for things to go further, though, and so they eventually broke apart to continue dancing. At one point, Joel thought he heard a faint rustling and a few giggles from the doorway, but when he looked up, no one was there, and he soon forgot about it.

After a few minutes, he dared to move closer, wrapping his arms around Mike’s neck and resting his head on Mike’s shoulder. Mike responded by linking his hands at the small of Joel’s back, embracing him as they swayed and turned on the spot. Joel closed his eyes and concentrated on the sound of Mike’s breathing, on the feel of Mike’s shirt against his cheek.

They stayed like that for a long time, swaying close in each other’s arms, even after the music had stopped and the only sound was silence.

Another lesson Joel filed away for the future: sometimes, the only thing better than doing things together was just _being_ together.

o~O~o

Joel had never thought of himself as a sexual person. Sure, he had desires and needs like most people, but he never felt particularly inclined to act on them. He’d always enjoyed sex, but wasn’t the type to go out and pick up a one-night stand if he hadn’t had any in a while. Even when his handful of relationships had turned physical, it had always been his partner who moved things along. He hadn’t been unwilling, just unsure. Of course he knew there was quite a bit that happened between the extremes of kissing and sex, and he enjoyed most of it, but he had never figured out how to traverse that path. Some of his girlfriends grew frustrated at his inaction; others hadn’t minded taking the lead. He always figured he would probably end up with someone who was more dominant in bed, who’d tell him exactly what to do and when, and he’d be fine with that.

Then Mike had come along and turned his comfortable world on its head.

This time, his partner not only wanted _him_ to make the first move, but was okay with them possibly never going any further than the occasional kissing and cuddling sessions they indulged in late at night and in the movie theater. That wasn’t the case this time; Joel knew he wanted more. He wasn’t nearly ready to go all the way, but with the wide spectrum of possibilities that lay down that path, he was more than willing to explore those with Mike.

The question was, where did they start?

Once again, it was Mike who provided an answer, while still letting him figure out the rest.

On a random December evening, Joel was in the living room, watching the seven o’clock news when Mike appeared in the doorway of their room. He’d been finishing up a last-minute project for Gypsy and Joel hadn’t seen him since dinner, more than an hour ago.

“Uh, hi,” Mike said in response to his greeting. Joel glanced up in time to see Mike nervously run a hand through his hair. Something wasn’t right.

“Is everything okay?”

“Um, are you busy?” Mike coughed, shifting from foot to foot.

“No, not really.” Joel muted the TV and looked up at Mike. “What’s going on?”

“Where are the ’bots?”

“Tom and Crow are at the roller rink with their friends, Gypsy’s pulling another late night at ConGypsCo, and Cambot’s at the photography club meeting.” Joel frowned; Mike should already know all this. He read the family calendar every morning just as Joel did.

“Good. So it’s just us for a little while, then.”

Joel folded his arms. “Mike, will you please tell me…oh.” Realizing the implications of Mike’s last comment, he swallowed. “Do you want — want to do something?”

“No. Well, yes, but it’s not what you’re thinking.” Mike joined Joel on the couch. Relieved as Joel was to learn Mike wasn’t looking to do — well, _that_ , he suspected Mike wanted to do more than just watch TV.

“Do you want to go out or —?”

“No, no.” Mike shook his head, clearly frustrated with himself. “God, how do I put this?”

Joel shrugged, without impatience. “Just put it.”

“Okay.” Mike took a deep breath and looked him in the eye. “So, I know you aren’t ready for us to go too far, and that’s okay. But…I was thinking maybe we could take baby steps.”

Joel raised an eyebrow. “How so?”

“Well…” Mike gestured vaguely to the couch. “I thought we could kiss, for starters.”

“You mean, kiss and then —?”

“No.” Mike shook his head. _“Just_ kissing for now. We don’t have to go any further than that.”

“We don’t?” Joel asked dumbly. Every other time he had done this — which was admittedly not often — from age sixteen to thirty-six, making out had always led to sex, or a close approximation. Eventually he had come to always expect sex after making out, more out of routine than genuine anticipation. What Mike was suggesting sounded completely foreign to him. Sure, they had never gone further before, but their makeout sessions up till now had been fairly brief and tame and had always happened when they were both feeling lazy, or where sex certainly wouldn’t happen. Now, though, was another story.

Mike nodded. “Yes. That’s why we’re doing it here, not in bed. Is that okay with you?”

“Um, sure.” Joel wasn’t completely certain about this, but he trusted Mike, and felt better knowing Mike wouldn’t pressure him to go further. Besides, kissing him would be nice. They hadn’t done enough of that lately.

“Good. So, before they get back…” Mike got up and switched off the lights. He took the remote, but didn’t turn off the TV, instead flipping through the channels until he came across what looked to be a 1970s _Forbidden Planet_ rip-off, cheesy effects and all. He unmuted the sound, but kept the volume low.

Joel looked at him questioningly and Mike smiled. “Can you think of anything better to do during a bad movie?”

“Maybe a couple things…” Joel trailed off as Mike sat down next to him. _But nothing I’d rather be doing right now,_ he added silently as Mike’s lips met his.

Mike’s kiss started out soft and gentle at first, easing Joel into it. Joel responded, reaching to pull Mike into his arms as he felt Mike’s hands slide around his neck. Mike’s lips were warm and soft, and the cinnamon tang of his mouthwash still lingered. This wasn’t just some guy he was kissing; it was _Mike,_ he reminded himself. Mike, who’d taken such good care of the ’bots when Joel couldn’t, had put up and even joined in with their pranks and schemes and mischief. Mike, who’d gone to the trouble of tracking Joel down and taking the ’bots to him instead of just putting them on a bus. Mike, who’d wanted to see him again — _him._ Mike, the first and only man he might maybe sort of possibly be falling for…

All these thoughts vanished from Joel’s head as Mike eased him down onto his back, still kissing him. Involuntarily, he tensed as he lay down, but as he was trying to relax he felt Mike break the kiss, pushing himself against the couch. He was confused until Mike whispered, “You on top.”

Understanding, Joel quickly moved to switch their positions, bringing himself up as Mike slid underneath him. He looked down at Mike, smiling up at him in the flickering light of the TV, and felt something inside him give a little.

This had been Mike’s idea, but Mike still wanted _him_ to have control, to take the lead. The realization made Joel fall just a little bit harder.

He lowered his head a bit too quickly and nearly crashed into Mike’s mouth, but Mike stopped him in time, and Joel felt a smile against his lips as Mike helped him move into position. Mike’s hand shifted onto Joel’s chest, pressing gently to help keep him from collapsing as they adjusted; Joel was about to kiss him again when he saw Mike’s eyes widen slightly in surprise.

“Is something wrong?”

Mike shook his head, smiling. “No. I just didn’t think your heart would be beating faster than mine.”

Cheesy, perhaps, but also completely true. Joel shifted slightly, lifting his right hand to rest on Mike’s chest, soon finding his heartbeat. “Wow. Are you trying to beat me to a heart attack, Nelson?”

Mike shrugged. “There are worse ways to go than dying with you on top of me.”

Joel rolled his eyes affectionately. “And with that delightful thought, I think we’re done talking.” Before Mike could answer, he quickly dropped down to kiss him again, relishing Mike’s moan as his tongue tentatively, gently eased its way into Mike’s mouth. His hand slipped under Mike’s neck, fingers teasing the soft hair at the nape, and Mike reached up to cradle his neck, his thumb stroking Joel’s pulse.

Their kisses were slow, sweet and effortless, drugging yet stimulating, and Joel soon abandoned all attempts at thinking about what they were doing, letting his body and instincts guide him. He tasted Mike, inhaled him, absorbed him, let the sensations of Mike’s mouth drinking his, the glide of his tongue against Joel’s, the feel of his body arching to meet him fill his head.

Eventually, he felt himself grow bolder, wanting more, and he pulled away. As Mike looked at him, perplexed, Joel didn’t give him long to wonder as he bent to press a kiss to Mike’s neck, just below his ear. Mike’s breath caught, and Joel’s heart lurched. Knowing the effect such a simple caress could have on Mike, knowing it was _him_ who was making Mike react this way…never, ever had he realized just how arousing that could be.

His tongue darted out to flick Mike’s earlobe, and the gasp Mike let out spurred him on, as he moved up to trace the rest of Mike’s ear with his tongue, nipping his earlobe before shifting to resume his path down Mike’s neck. Mike seemed to have no breath left to question him, sighs and moans the only sounds he was making.

As Joel lifted his head to catch his own breath, their eyes met. The desire in Mike’s eyes was tempered with an unspoken question. Joel grinned at him.

“You said, just kissing. You never said _where_ we had to kiss…”

Mike’s smile of comprehension quickly gave way to a moan as Joel’s lips trailed down his neck. Joel took his time, his mouth and tongue exploring every inch he could reach, discovering what spots left Mike breathless and what touches left Mike limp underneath him.

After several minutes, Mike seemed to have had his fill and reached up to spear his fingers into Joel’s hair, pushing up slightly on the back of his neck. Joel got the message; as he lifted his head, Mike pressed his shoulder and whispered, “My turn.”

Joel nodded, chuckling as they fumbled a little while trying to switch places; after getting stuck at a couple of odd angles, Joel finally untangled himself enough to sit up and lie back on the other end of the couch, opening his legs for Mike to slide between them. As Mike began his own quest to find Joel’s spots, his mouth eager and determined, Joel let him take his time, soon lost to his own desires as Mike proved a quick study, heat seeming to flow from his lips through Joel’s body as he kissed, nipped, and licked his way along Joel’s ears and neck.

As wonderful as it felt, Joel still wanted to do more. Not more than kissing, but still more than just lying there luxuriating. When he regained enough of himself to realize what his hand was doing — aimlessly kneading Mike’s side — he dared to move his hand lower and slip it under Mike’s shirt.

The first touch of Mike’s bare skin was electrifying. Joel froze for an instant, overcome not with fear but with sheer yearning for more — more touching, more kissing, more heat, more softness, more _Mike._ He began to stroke Mike’s skin, hesitant at first, then more confidently, but no less gently, slowly learning the feel of him beneath his fingertips.

Mike had stopped kissing his neck for a moment when Joel first made his move, and now he lifted his head a bit, looking at Joel with another question in his eyes.

Joel smiled up at him. “I just want to touch you.”

Mike grinned. “Good thing the feeling’s mutual.” His own hand quickly found its way under Joel’s shirt, and Mike swallowed Joel’s gasp of pleasure with another kiss.

Nothing else was said between them for a long time after that, as with a few more boundaries lifted they dared to explore more of each other, still going no further than the kissing and petting they had agreed to. There was no need to, not even a desire to do so.

A couple hours later, as time and energy waned, their kissing and touching finally slowed, then tapered off into a few quick, light pecks, right around the time the astronauts blew up the mysterious planet with a laughably poor explosion effect and the movie ended. Joel rested his head on Mike’s chest, boneless and content, as they watched the last minute of the film, chuckling at what wasn’t nearly as epic a final shot as the director seemed to believe, complete with a nonsensical ending line.

“‘We came too far… and yet, we have so much further to go’?” Mike repeated the line to himself a few more times, trying to parse out its meaning, before giving up. “What the hell kind of last line is that?”

Joel shrugged, his shoulder rising into the arm Mike had draped over his back. “The best _five_ screenwriters could come up with, apparently.”

Never had he felt so spent and so relaxed at the same time. He lay there quietly, memorizing the echo of Mike’s heartbeat in his ear and the feel of his chest rising and falling with each breath. They hadn’t removed a stitch of clothing, hadn’t let their hands wander below the waist, and yet Joel couldn’t remember the last time he’d done something that felt this…intimate. Kissing without expectation, without intention of doing anything more than simply enjoying each other’s closeness — he never would have imagined that something so simple could feel so good.

He looked up at Mike, and as Mike looked back at him, smiling with kiss-swollen lips, his heart melted. This was someone who would not only wait for him, but was content to spend an entire evening just kissing him.

What on _Earth_ had he done to deserve this man?

Joel bit back a whimper of protest as Mike got up to turn a light back on, though he knew why; the ’bots would be home soon, and while they might know exactly what was going on between their humans, he and Mike didn’t need to feed their imaginations. Soon enough, Mike returned to his side, and they lay cuddled together, watching the credits roll.

“Mike,” Joel whispered as the credits finished and went to commercial, “you make me so happy.”

“Oh, Joel.” Mike held him tighter, dropping a kiss to his forehead. “You do, too. More than you know.”

They snuggled together in silence as another movie started to play. The silence, of course, did not last long as Tom and Crow soon returned home, not even bothering to knock as they barged in, babbling tales of the roller rink and the budding romances they were sure they’d witnessed. Cambot buzzed in soon after with a flyer about the photo club’s upcoming trip to Eagan to photograph the city. Gypsy was the last to barrel through the door with stories of the specter she was sure was haunting the halls of ConGypsCo’s branch office at night. The apartment was soon alive with chatter, wisecracks and laughter, and Joel would not have had it any other way.

They spent many more evenings just like that, even years later when they knew each other’s bodies as well as their own. For now, Joel savored the time they spent simply just showing affection, whether it was kissing, holding hands, touching, or cuddling.

So this was how it felt to be loved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _This is the scene that started it all, folks. My brain spat out this makeout session from nowhere while I was attempting to edit two other (non-MST3K) stories and, naturally, had to know more. How did they get together? Why are they living together? Why is Joel so nervous about sex? And so on, until this story was born. *g*_


	10. Is This Love

  _“I can’t stop the feeling, I’ve been this way before. But, with you I’ve found the key to open any door_ …”

_~ “Is This Love”, Whitesnake_

 

As his and Mike’s relationship progressed, Joel certainly felt loved, and knew he loved Mike, but rarely gave serious thought to whether he might be _in_ love. The thought had certainly crossed his mind from time to time, but he had never dwelled on it, choosing to just enjoy being with Mike rather than obsessing about his own feelings, as he was wont to do. He and Mike cared deeply for each other, that much was certain. Things were going great between them and he’d never been happier. What more did he need to know?

Naturally, it was thanks to the ’bots that he realized how much he did need to know.

It all started less than a week after New Year’s. Gypsy had been invited to give a presentation at a week-long business conference in Duluth and asked Mike to accompany her. Mike had been flattered, but naturally wanted to know why. Gypsy informed him that he was a trusted employee — and besides, she needed someone to help carry her luggage. She had said Joel, Crow, Tom and Cambot were welcome to come, but they probably wouldn’t find it that interesting, and so they opted to stay home.

It was only a week, and they were still in the same state, but Joel found himself missing Mike as soon as he got in bed that first night. As close as the two of them had become, he liked to think they were both still independent people. Even after getting together, they still spent some time apart, which Joel had always felt was a good thing. But before now, they had never been separated for longer than a workday, when Mike was out temping or at ConGypsCo, and they had never spent the night apart. He rolled over, a hollow feeling echoing through him when he didn’t automatically bump into Mike on the other side of the bed. He laid on his side, arm reaching out to touch the person who wasn’t there, who should have been there, and stared at that empty spot for a long time until he finally fell asleep.

During the day, he made sure to keep busy; despite not having to work, he could still find plenty to do. He deep-cleaned the apartment top to bottom, organized the cupboards, wrapped up current paperwork for the shop, did routine maintenance on his car, read some books he hadn’t gotten to yet, binge-watched a couple new shows, took Tom and Crow on outings and played games with them at home, and went to one of Cambot’s photo club exhibitions, where one of his black-and-white wildlife photos won second place in its category. The only one prouder than Cambot was his creator.

As busy as he was, and as nice as it was to have some time alone with Tom, Crow and Cambot, the days still dragged on for Joel. They talked to Mike and Gypsy on the phone a couple times, but weren’t able to talk more often as Gypsy and Mike were busy attending presentations and workshops, preparing for her talk, and seeing the sights of Duluth. It seemed they were having a wonderful time. Joel was glad they were enjoying themselves, but couldn’t deny the quiet throb of pain that lanced through him when Mike talked enthusiastically about all the fun he and Gypsy were having.

He was glad that Gypsy was finally getting the recognition she deserved, and that Mike could feel more accomplished in helping her out. But it seemed they didn’t need him around to have a good time.

Not the way he seemed to need Mike.

_You are so pathetic, Robinson._

On Thursday evening, Joel sat with Tom and Crow watching TV, lost in thought and barely paying any attention to what was onscreen. What was _wrong_ with him? Mike was alive and well and only a couple hours away. He’d be home on Sunday. Surely Joel could get along without him for just a few more days.

Too bad nights were included in that equation.

“So what do you think, Joel?” Crow asked, interrupting his thoughts.

“About what?” Joel answered, barely glancing at him.

“Crow and I are going to take all your savings and move into the broom closet over the bowling alley,” Tom said pleasantly. “Much more room there!”

“I get top shelf next to the Windex!” Crow piped up.

“Well, good luck getting _up_ there, Crow,” Tom said, hovering slightly to illustrate his point.

“Why, you —!”

“That’s nice,” Joel said absently. “You do that.”

Crow studied him for a moment. “Well, now that Tom and I are getting married — for real this time — we should have our own place.”

“Especially before the baby comes,” Tom added. “I know you can’t wait to be a grandpa!”

“Uh-huh.” Joel continued to stare into the distance.

Crow looked harder at him, before waving a hand in front of his face. Joel didn’t react. “You know, Tom, I don’t think he’s heard a word we’ve said.”

“What tipped you off, Crow?” Tom snarked. “And by the way, I wouldn’t marry you if you were the last robot on Earth.”

Crow snorted. “Of course not. You’d be killed in the rush.”

As their argument continued, Joel kept thinking. It wasn’t until he felt a hard smack on the back of his head that he snapped out of his daze.

 _“Ow!_ Crow, what the heck was _that_ for?” he demanded, rubbing the back of his head.

“Earth to Joel Robinson!” Crow responded, waving his hands around. “Come in, Joel Robinson! What’s going on with you?”

“Nothing,” Joel lied. “I’m fine.”

“Oh yeah, right,” Tom said, shaking from side to side. “We just watched two hours of _Land of the Lost_ and you didn’t make a single comment. Not even when the shag carpet yeti was onscreen! Are you feeling okay?” He hovered closer to Joel’s head, swinging his hand to brush his forehead. “Hm, I don’t think you have a fever. Of course, I can’t feel any kind of sensation in my hands, so you could be frozen in the morgue and I wouldn’t —”

“Boys, boys.” Joel held up his hands in surrender. “I’m okay, thank you. It’s just…it’s weird not having Mike and Gypsy here. I miss them, that’s all.”

Tom and Crow exchanged a glance. “Look who he mentions first,” said Tom.

Crow nodded. “You know, now that I think about it, I don’t think we’ve seen you like this since you and Mike wouldn’t get over yourselves.”

“I guess so,” Joel said, shrugging. Back then, he’d been stuck in the awkward limbo of wanting Mike and not having him, and now it was the opposite. He had Mike now. He just wanted — no, _needed_ him.

_God, Mike, why aren’t you here?_

He couldn’t remember the last time he had ever missed anyone this much. Mike’s voice, his laugh, his touch, his occasionally ridiculous facial expressions — he missed all of it. He closed his eyes briefly, willing a picture of Mike into his mind.

He was unprepared for the way his heart seemed to swell in response.

His eyes flew open, his heart seeming to thud against his chest.

Even in his mind, Mike overwhelmed him. Not in a way that was scary or shocking, though in some respects it kind of was. No, this was a _good_ kind of overwhelming, a wellspring of emotion that carried him along like a seagull on the tide, still able to fly but content to just float along with the waves.

And to be in Mike’s presence…he had never thought about it before, but whenever they were together, he always felt as if Mike was the world. His world. Of course he never thought about it. Why would he? His heart had always seemed to swallow him up, leaving room for little else.

What was that saying he had once heard? “We’re human beings, not human doings.” Maybe that was it. He didn’t need Mike to _do_ things with.

He needed to _be_ with Mike.

_Oh, Mike…how did I not see it?_

_I’m in love with you._

“Joel? Joel!” Tom’s voice woke Joel up. “Where _are_ you?”

 _Not where I need to be._ “Uh, I’m fine, Tom. I just realized something. Something I have to tell Mike when he gets home.”

He faintly noticed Tom and Crow look at each other, then nod with satisfaction before they excused themselves, Crow mumbling something about a phone call. His mind raced as he didn’t even stop to wonder what was going on. It was all he could do not to grab his keys and drive straight to Duluth, never mind that it was almost ten o’clock.

Now more than ever, Sunday couldn’t come soon enough.

o~O~o 

Mike and Gypsy had said they would probably make it home around dinnertime, but Joel didn’t dare leave the apartment all day, in case they arrived sooner. He watched a movie with Tom and Crow (and managed to get in some actual riffing this time), helped Cambot sort through some family photos he had taken, and planned out a month of dinners that might or might not actually be cooked. Still, the day dragged on, and Joel resisted the temptation to call them on the road. He didn’t want to distract them, and certainly didn’t trust himself not to blurt everything out on the phone.

Around six p.m., there was finally a knock on the door. Joel raced to open it.

Gypsy was on the other side, alone. “Hi, Joel!” she said brightly.

“Gypsy!” Joel shoved his momentary disappointment aside and quickly reached to hug her. After all, he had missed her, too. “How are you, honey? How did everything go?”

“Perfect!” Gypsy beamed. “Everyone loved my presentation! They’re going to invite me back next year.”

“That’s great, Gyps! Maybe we can all come with you next time.” As much as he did want to support Gypsy, Joel had no intention of ever being apart from Mike that long again if he could help it.

“That would be very nice, Joel. How was your week?”

“Fine. We saw some great movies, and Cambot won a photography prize.” Standard, expected answer. Finally, he asked what he really wanted to know. “Where’s Mike?”

“Just getting some things from the car. Tom! Crow! Cambot!”

As Gypsy rushed to greet the other ’bots, nearly knocking Joel over in her haste, he looked up at a sound in the hallway. There was Mike, struggling from the elevator with two loaded suitcases, and as he looked up, he noticed Joel.

The smile that lit up his face was brighter than any sunrise.

Joel’s heart slammed in his chest as he bolted down the hall, meeting Mike at the elevator. If only Mike’s hands weren’t full…

“Hi, honey,” he said. “How was your trip? Do you need a hand?”

“Hey, Joel. It was good, thanks. Yeah, if you could take this case…”

Joel quickly grabbed one of the cases and they headed back down the hall together, talking casually about nothing at all. He would never remember a word of what they said to each other.

Once they were back inside, Joel stood aside long enough to let Mike set his things down and greet Tom, Crow and Cambot. They might only have spent a minute or two catching up, but to Joel it felt like they talked for hours before Gypsy got their attention and began talking to them about something. Quickly, once their backs were turned, he returned to Mike’s side.

He stepped up next to him, and as their eyes met, everything that he had been thinking about, feeling for the past week rushed through him full force, nearly knocking him off his feet.

All he could do was smile nervously.

_How do I tell him? What do I say?_

Three words dislodged themselves from his jumble of thoughts and tumbled out of his mouth.

“I missed you,” he said.

Mike smiled. “I missed you, too.”

Joel had no idea who moved first, but it didn’t really matter because now he was in Mike’s arms again, exactly where he needed to be, and as they finally kissed, for the first time in days everything seemed clear. This was what made sense. This was _real._

As he pulled back to look at Mike, ready to tell him everything, he froze, like a paused film. The words trembled on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn’t push them out.

It should have been so easy to say. Except it suddenly wasn’t. With that three-word phrase, he was putting his heart on the line. What if Mike didn’t feel the same way? Worse, what if Mike was scared off? What if —?

Oh, why hadn’t he worried about this all week, when Mike wasn’t here?

No matter. He could say it, he _would_ say it, he —

Before he could speak, he felt a tapping on his leg. “Joel, can you get Tom and me some SpaghettiOs?”

“With meatballs, please!” Tom piped up.

“I don’t like the meatballs!” Crow protested.

“Then just pick them out!”

“Crow, Tom, later, okay?” Joel said. He turned back to Mike, ready to speak now. But as he looked at Mike, he felt paralyzed again.

_God, why can’t I —?_

“Joel?” Gypsy asked. “What _is_ for dinner? We’re starving.”

Joel waved a hand vaguely towards the kitchen, his meal notebook completely forgotten. “I don’t know — go pick something out. We’ll have that.”

“We just had a long drive,” Gypsy pointed out. “I don’t feel like cooking.”

“Then go pick a takeout menu,” Joel said, more crossly than intended. How could he think about something as mundane as _dinner_ now?

Looking at Mike again, he prepared himself to speak.

“Joel?” Mike asked. “Are you trying to tell me something?”

“Uh, yeah.” Joel felt the blush to the roots of his hair. “Mike…” He trailed off as his throat seemed to close up.

“Yes?” Mike prodded gently.

Joel opened his mouth, but no sound came out. _For God’s sake,_ out with it —

“Joel! Can we get Thai?” Crow was tugging impatiently at his pant leg now.

The constant interruptions were starting to get on Joel’s nerves — never mind his own interference. “Fine. We can get Thai.”

“But I want Chinese!” Tom whined. Cambot seemed to agree in a series of loud beeps.

“We had Chinese for lunch,” Joel said through gritted teeth.

“And now I’m hungry again!” Tom said.

“You know, I hear people say that a lot about Chinese food,” Gypsy said. “Joel, what do they —”

“I’ll explain later, Gypsy,” Joel said abruptly.

 _Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beeeeeeeeeep…_ Cambot was not about to be left out of the conversation. Why was he beeping right in Joel’s ear?

“Joel, I changed my mind.” Crow was jumping up and down beside him now, waving his arms. “I want —”

Joel had had enough. He whirled around to face all of them. “Guys, would you please just go?!”

“Whoa, what’s gotten into you?” Tom asked, hovering closer.

“Nothing.” Joel pinched the bridge of his nose. “Please, all of you, just go find something to do.”

“Joel,” Gypsy asked, “is something wrong?”

 _“No,”_ Joel groaned. “For goodness’ sake, can’t we have a minute alone? I just want to tell Mike that I love him!”

The room instantly fell silent.

A long minute passed as Joel stood, paralyzed. Had — had he really just —?

“Joel,” Mike said slowly, “what did you just say?”

Joel steadied himself, then turned back to face Mike. “I — I said, or, well, I _wanted_ to say…” He stood straight up, looking Mike right in the eye. “I love you, Mike. I mean, I’m in love with you.”

For a few seconds, Mike didn’t react, and Joel’s fears swept through him again, but he quickly pushed them aside. He didn’t have long to wait before a smile slowly spread over Mike’s face — warm, happy, and tinged with mischief.

“Well, that’s a relief,” Mike said. “Because I’m kind of in love with you, too.”

Joel raised an eyebrow. “Kind of?”

“Okay,” Mike admitted playfully, “maybe more than kind of. More like madly, hopelessly, head over heels —”

Joel laughed, feeling free. “I get it, I get it.” He pulled Mike back into his arms, and they stood there, just smiling at each other for a long moment. “I love you so much.”

Mike grinned before leaning over to kiss him. “I love you, too.”

The moment was interrupted by a voice from behind them.

“Tommy,” Crow said slowly, “I can’t believe that worked!”

“Ha! What did I tell you?” Tom hovered and spun triumphantly in the air. “You owe me twenty bucks! Pay up.”

“Hey! I should get half! _I_ took Mike to the conference,” Gypsy demanded.

 _“What_ worked?” Joel asked suspiciously as he looked at them, deciding, for now, to ignore the fact that they were betting on him and Mike yet again.

“What we just did,” Gypsy said proudly. Cambot beeped in agreement.

“Okay…” Mike said slowly. “But could you please explain exactly what it is that you did?”

“Oh, of course _you_ don’t get it, Mike,” Tom said dismissively. “All right, how do we put this in _simple_ terms?”

“Why don’t you just tell us what you did?” Joel said patiently, ignoring Mike’s scowl.

“It _was_ really pretty simple, Joel,” Gypsy said. “We all knew how you felt about Mike. I mean, I only have one eye, and _I_ could see you loved him. But then you never said anything! And he never said anything, and we had to keep redoing our bets, and redoing them, and…well, we thought, why don’t _we_ help you say it before we all go broke?”

“We tossed around a few ideas,” Crow said. “Anonymous notes, charades, that sort of thing.”

“And then I got invited to the conference,” Gypsy added, “and I thought hey! Maybe if he was away for a little bit, you’d start to miss him, and _then_ you’d say something.” She turned to Mike. “But I really did need your help carrying things, Mike, so thank you.”

“Glad to be of service,” Mike said dryly.

“But it was _me_ , Joel,” Tom said boastfully, “who thought hey, maybe your tendency to have emotional outbursts when you’re annoyed could come in handy. And to think you all doubted me!”

“Emotional outbursts?” Joel repeated, confused.

Tom hovered closer to Joel. “Two words, Joel,” he said. “ _Rock climbing_.”

“Oh. Right.” Joel shuddered involuntarily at the memory. He exchanged a smile with Mike before turning back to the ’bots. “Guys, this was — sweet of you, really. But from now on, I don’t think you should be interfering with Mike and me.”

“But we’re not interfering!” Crow protested. “We’re trying to _help!”_

“Yeah,” Tom added. “Honestly, you two are slower than a couple of snails on the back of a tortoise trudging through molasses on a glacier —”

“I know, you guys, and I appreciate it,” Joel said patiently, patting Tom and Crow reassuringly.

“I do, too,” Mike added.

Joel looked at him gratefully before continuing. “But from now on, I think Mike and I can handle things just fine. We still love all of you, of course. That’s never going to change. But our relationship is just between him and me. Not him, me, and all of you. Do you understand?”

To his amazement, the ’bots all kept quiet and nodded solemnly.

“Okay, Joel,” Gypsy said. “We won’t meddle anymore.”

“For now,” Crow was heard to mutter slyly. Joel decided to pretend he hadn’t heard that. For once, he had no doubt they’d take what he’d said to heart. Underneath their jokes and sarcasm, they really did just want him to be happy. Mike made him happy, and luckily they liked Mike, so they wouldn’t try to disturb that. Not maliciously, anyway.

“Good.” Joel glanced at the living room clock and realized how hungry he was. “Now, why don’t you go pick out a takeout menu?”

The ’bots eagerly rushed off to the kitchen; as the inevitable squabbling started, Joel hoped they’d be occupied long enough to finally give him just a minute alone with Mike.

He got his wish, as he and Mike pulled each other closer, never taking their eyes off each other.

“I love you, you know,” he said to Mike. And now, he got to say it whenever he wanted…and hear it, too.

Mike smiled as they moved in for a kiss. “I know. I love you, too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _The “broom closet over the bowling alley” bit comes from an old Ann Landers column, in response to a woman sick of having lived with her in-laws for 10 years. ;) Crow and Tom announcing their engagement and pregnancy was inspired by their aborted wedding (of course) and[this hilarious bit](http://allowe.com/laughs/book/A%20Daughter%27s%20Letter%20Home.htm) of text humor (I hadn’t seen the non-Turkey Day version of 701 at the time of writing). Told you I wasn’t good enough to make _ all _this stuff up!_  
>  _Btw, as steamy as things got last chapter…the rating’s going up next time. Yep. I think you know what that means. ;)_


	11. Latch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _For those of you listening along, the version of the song for this chapter is DJ Premier’s fantastic remix, which you can (and should) listen to[here](https://youtube.com/watch?v=lLh45_t9OmU). The original song is awesome, of course, but I really love the slower, more laidback tempo of this remix._   
>  _As promised, nothing but straight-up smut here, folks — non-explicit, but NSFW. If that’s not what you’re into, you can just read the first few and last few paragraphs and not miss a thing. Kind of like the average Danielle Steel novel, but hopefully better-written. *g* Man, did this one get away from me, too. Just one more to go… no, that’s just sand in my eye…_

_“Now I’ve got you in my space, I won’t let go of you. Got you shackled in my embrace, I’m latching onto you_ …”

_~ “Latch”, Disclosure feat. Sam Smith_

 

Being in love, Joel discovered, didn’t really change anything…except it kind of did. He and Mike carried on as before with their robot family, but now the world seemed lighter, kinder, cozier around the edges, like a soft focus photograph. The dizzying adrenaline rush of their early days together was gone, replaced with a quieter, more tender reserve of emotion. Sparks might be exciting, but embers burned longer, hotter, and brighter. All of his old anxieties had faded, supplanted by a calm security he had never thought he might experience. There was a newer, warmer, intense yet gentle affection between them now. They could spend the night doing nothing but cuddling and talking and think it was the best date they could possibly have.

For the first time in his life, Joel brimmed with happiness, and he knew Mike felt the same. Still, as much as he loved to just _be_ with Mike, he found himself wanting — needing — more. To _do_ more with him.

Finally, after much thought, he knew exactly what that was.

A few weeks after the night he and Mike had confessed, they stood in the living room after dinner watching Tom and Crow greet Kendra and Daisy. With the worst of senior year over, the girls finally had more time to babysit. Kendra had been accepted to Ohio State, and Daisy would be heading to University of Washington. Privately, Joel wondered how they might make that work, but of course it wasn’t any of his business.

At long last, he and Mike had a quiet Friday evening ahead. On Wednesday, Gypsy had left for Madison on a short business trip and Cambot had accompanied her. They wouldn’t be back until Monday, deciding to make a weekend of it. Kendra and Daisy were taking Tom and Crow for a night at the arcade with Kendra’s thirteen-year-old twin brothers.

“Alex and Miles are dying to meet you two,” Kendra told Tom and Crow as they met her and Daisy at the door. “You’re gonna have a blast with them.”

“Miles?” Tom asked. “Your brother’s name is Miles?”

Kendra rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, my brother is Miles Davies. He’s heard all the jokes, trust me. Yes, our parents are huge jazz fans. No, he doesn’t play the trumpet.”

“What does he play?” Crow asked.

“Clarinet. And trombone. You two ready?”

“Yes!” Tom and Crow chorused.

“Wait,” Daisy said. She looked at the two of them. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”

Tom and Crow exchanged glances, then suddenly seemed to remember something. _“Ohhh!”_ Dashing into their room, they returned moments later with their overnight bags.

“Wait,” Mike said, confused. “What are you two doing?”

“Oh, you didn’t know?” Kendra said casually. “Joel suggested they have a sleepover with the twins tonight. Assuming they all get along, of course.”

“Or even if we don’t,” Crow said slyly.

Kendra shook her head. “No pranks, you two. Not tonight, anyway. Remember our deal?”

 _“Fine.”_ Crow rolled his eyes. “Tom, go put the plastic wrap and markers back.”

Exactly what the terms of their deal were, Joel would never learn, as Mike turned to look at him in surprise. “Joel, what —?”

“Well, shall we, Daisy-belle?” Kendra said brightly, interrupting him.

“Daisy-belle?” Joel asked.

Daisy shot him her best _don’t ask on pain of death_ expression, which was much less intimidating than she seemed to think. “Let’s shall, Kiki,” she said to Kendra, grinning.

“Kiki?” Mike repeated. Kendra either didn’t hear him or chose to ignore him.

“See you tomorrow!” Tom called as he and the others began to leave.

“We won’t come too soon, unless you do!” Crow said cheerfully.

 _“Crow!”_ Daisy admonished him. She and Kendra looked at Joel and Mike with matching grins. “Have a good night.”

As the door closed behind them, Mike looked at Joel again.

“Joel,” he said, “what’s going on?”

Joel swallowed. “I don’t know about ‘Daisy-belle’, but Kendra told me once she didn’t like ‘Ken’ or ‘Kenny’ as a nickname, so…”

Mike’s eyeroll was tempered with affection. “Yes, thank you, but that’s not what I meant.” He stepped closer to Joel, smiling now. “You had Kendra take them for the night. And Cambot and Gypsy are gone.”

Joel shrugged, doing his best to act nonchalant. “So?”

Mike ventured closer. “You have something planned, don’t you?”

Instead of answering, Joel pulled him forward and kissed him. Mike’s surprise quickly gave way to desire as he returned the kiss eagerly. Joel responded by taking a step backward, pulling Mike with him, still kissing him heatedly, hungrily. He knew the way to their room by heart, guiding Mike there with closed eyes and careful steps, lost in their kiss and barely noticing when Mike let go of him just long enough to reach for the doorknob. They made their way in, Mike managing to kick the door closed purely out of habit without once breaking their kiss.

When they finally broke apart, they were breathing hard, still clinging to each other as if glued together, foreheads touching. “Joel,” Mike rasped between breaths, “do you — are you —?”

Joel nodded. “I’m ready.” He dared to flash Mike a grin. “Are you?”

“If you have to ask —” was all Mike ground out before his mouth was on Joel’s again, easing him backwards toward their bed. Joel put a hand on his chest, pressing lightly, and Mike pulled away, looking at him curiously.

“I do,” Joel said softly.

Mike smiled. “And that’s why I love you.” He leaned whisper-close, his breath warm against Joel’s lips, before adding, “Here’s your answer.”

They tumbled onto the bed, kissing fiercely, their bodies melding together. This time, they didn’t hold back — clothes were undone, skin met skin, hands roved wherever they pleased. They had the whole night ahead of them, and yet every movement was urgent, desperate, eager for this first time together. Every moment of the last several months had been building up to tonight, and now it couldn’t happen fast enough.

They were both shirtless and Joel was on his back, Mike beginning to kiss down his neck, before he even really registered what was happening. As he felt around for Mike’s zipper, he touched the unmistakable proof of Mike’s need for him, and without warning his brain kicked into high gear.

All at once, he saw echoes of his teenage years flash before his eyes — fumbling and exploring in cars, on couches, once or twice under the school bleachers. All the awkwardness and tenderness of those moments swelled in him again. This time, though, was different. He’d cared for everyone he’d been with before; he had never used them. But those times were more about education, experimentation, than expressing affection. This was about _Mike_. Every touch, every kiss was an echo, an expression of _just how much_ he loved this man, and how much Mike loved him.

He sat up a little, breathing hard as he processed everything.

“Joel?” Mike stopped kissing down his chest as Joel shifted to look at him. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Joel said quickly. “It’s just…this is a lot for me to handle. I’m a little nervous, that’s all.”

Mike nodded. “That’s okay. I am, too.”

Joel looked at him dubiously. “You’re hiding it pretty well.”

Mike chuckled. “Look, I know for you this is easier said than done, but maybe you need to stop thinking for now. Move away from here —” he pointed at Joel’s head “— and start focusing _here_.” He drew his finger down Joel’s chest, lingering on his heart for a moment before trailing down towards his waist.

“Thank you for the visual aid,” Joel deadpanned.

Mike shrugged, smiling. “You see what I mean, though, right?”

“Yeah. I do.” Mike was right again, on all counts; how exactly could Joel turn off his mind and just let his desires guide him? There might be one way. “Could we maybe…switch?”

“Sure.” Mike quickly moved towards the head of the bed as Joel took his place. Being in the lead should have made Joel more nervous, and it almost did, but as he looked up at Mike, gazing back at him with a tenderness he had never seen before, he felt his confidence returning, heart filled to overflowing. Time to get out of his own way and just focus on the moment. And _Mike_.

“What do you like?” he asked Mike.

Mike smiled softly, reaching to stroke his cheek. “You,” he said huskily. “Everything about you, I like.”

Joel moved forward to kiss him passionately; as he pulled back, he whispered raggedly, “You like that?”

“Yeah.” Mike was just as breathless.

Joel began to kiss slowly down Mike’s neck, daring to nip and suck gently at his skin, and was rewarded with a gasp of pleasure from Mike. He trailed more kisses down Mike’s chest, eventually finding his nipple and flicking it with his tongue.

“How about that?”

Mike only moaned in response, burying his hand in Joel’s hair.

Joel continued to kiss his way down, feeling Mike writhe underneath him as he reached to take off his pants. Mike was only too eager to help him, kicking and wriggling (and narrowly missing Joel’s head) until the last of his clothes were on the floor.

Joel looked up and down to admire him for a moment; as he wondered what to do next, panic unexpectedly began to set in. He had planned everything else — how could he have forgotten —?

“Joel?” Mike sounded concerned.

Joel looked up as he blurted out his response, hoping against hope the night wasn’t ruined. “Mike, I — I don’t have any lube or anything. I just — I didn’t —”

Mike placed a hand on his shoulder to calm him. “Shh, it’s okay,” he said gently. “I wasn’t expecting us to dive straight into _that_ , unless you really wanted it. We have other nights ahead of us, Joel. We can try it another time, or we don’t ever have to do it. That’s up to you, okay?”

“Okay.” Joel nodded with relief. He wasn’t ready to take the possibility off the table, but for now he was happy to stick to the basics. Mike was right. They could talk about it later.

“Is there anything you’ve always wanted to do?” Mike asked him.

Joel immediately knew the answer. “I want to taste you,” he whispered.

Mike grinned hazily, leaning back and spreading his legs. “Have at it.”

Joel started by stroking him gently up and down, letting instincts and his own experience guide him. Sure, he had never done this before, but he could approximate from when it had been done to him, right? Judging by the gasps and moans Mike was now making, he certainly could. He varied the speed and pressure of his strokes, letting his thumb trace veins and glide over the tip, and the whimpers Mike let out only spurred him on.

Feeling braver now, he dared to lean in and lick the head, and was surprised he wasn’t thrown off the bed from how hard Mike’s body jerked. He lowered his head, running his tongue slowly up Mike’s length before licking away the moisture forming at the tip. The taste was unusual, but not unpleasant. His tongue mimicked the earlier motions of his hand, rolling and stroking up and down and over the head, and Mike’s answering moans and sighs were no different, only more intense. Clearly he was doing something right.

Finally, he took Mike into his mouth for the first time, and as his lips closed around the tip he heard a new sound from the other end of the bed.

“Joel…” Mike whispered.

Never had Joel thought his own name could sound so erotic. Ignoring his own arousal, determined to help Mike before himself, he took Mike a little more into his mouth, inching his head further down until he couldn’t take anymore.

“Don’t worry about it,” Mike rasped. How did he always know just what was on Joel’s mind? “That’s a whole other lesson.”

Oh. Well, good; Joel had no idea how to unhinge his jaw or whatever the hell that entailed. He started moving his mouth up and down, licking, sucking, nibbling, giving himself entirely to his instincts. Mike was panting, moaning, tensing underneath him, and Joel grew more confident, doing his best to keep up.

“Joel.”

God, he would never get tired of hearing Mike say his name.

_“Joel.”_

Wait. Something was wrong. Mike didn’t sound aroused this time, but insistent. Was he trying to get Joel’s attention?

He looked up, startled to see that Mike was wide-eyed and breathing hard, not with need, but with…panic?

Quickly, he sat up, concerned. “Mike?”

“Joel, could — could we stop for a minute?”

“Sure.” Joel disregarded his own anxiety, focusing on Mike. “Is something wrong?”

“No, no, it’s just…a little much, that’s all. God, I…” Mike trailed off, pausing before looking back at Joel. “I forgot what it’s like to do this with someone you love. I forgot how good it could be.”

“Oh, Mike…” Joel bit his lip, his own emotions threatening to overwhelm him. If he’d bet on who was going to need to slow down and who would be doing the comforting, he’d have lost. He slid up next to Mike, reaching for his hand to squeeze it. Mike gripped it like a lifeline, breathing more deeply as he calmed down.

“Been a while, hasn’t it?” Joel asked quietly.

Mike nodded. “You know, _Star Trek_ lied to us. There are no opportunities to get laid in space.”

Joel laughed, and Mike joined in. They lay back together as the tension eased. Joel had always loved that about their relationship; somehow, one or both of them could find humor in anything. Laughter was the fuel that kept them running smoothly, even through tough times.

“It’s okay,” Joel said soothingly, laying his arm across Mike. “We can stop. Or do something else.”

“No.” Mike immediately shook his head. “I want this, Joel, more than anything. I want _you_. I just…need a minute.”

Joel nodded, contenting himself with resting his head on Mike’s chest. “Take your time, okay?”

A minute or two passed before Mike spoke again. “Those flings I told you about, that I had after I got back to Earth — they didn’t mean anything. They were fun, but we knew they weren’t anything more. But now it’s _you_. And I can’t imagine ever wanting anyone else.”

“Mike…” Joel felt tears stinging his eyes. There was only one thing he could possibly say. “I know. I feel the same way.”

Mike held him tighter in response, kissing the top of his head. “In case I didn’t mention it before, I love you.”

Joel looked up at him, smiling. “I love you, too. But you may have to remind me sometimes.”

“That you love me, or that I love you?” Mike raised an eyebrow.

Joel rolled his eyes. So his syntax wasn’t perfect. (Did Mike even know what “syntax” was?) “The latter.”

“I think I can do that.” Mike smiled. “As long as you remind me, too.”

“Of the former?” Joel teased.

“Yes. Speaking of which…” Mike lifted his hand and gently pushed down on Joel’s shoulder.

Joel got the hint, but needed to confirm. “Are you ready?”

“You have ten seconds to get down there, Robinson.”

Joel smirked as he obeyed, moving down the bed. “I hope you’ll last a little longer than that.”

“Don’t count — _ahh_.” The rest of Mike’s quip was soon lost to desire as Joel took him in his mouth again. His confidence renewed, Joel went at it as if he’d been doing this for years, as if he’d just been waiting for Mike to come along — and really, he had. He just hadn’t known that.

Joel’s hand stroked Mike’s thigh as he continued, his other hand making its way upwards almost instinctively. He smiled a little when he felt Mike grab onto it again, clinging to him as if needing reassurance that he wasn’t going anywhere.

_I’m not. No way. Not as long as you’ll have me._

Mike was thrusting into his mouth now, hips driving forward and hand clamped around Joel’s as he was clearly trying to hold back, to make it last, and Joel matched his pace, tongue, mouth and fingers learning every inch of him, eager to know every part of the man he loved.

“Joel,” Mike finally choked out, “I’m —”

He finished the sentence with a groan as orgasm claimed him.

Joel pulled back reflexively as Mike came, still not quite used to the taste or ready to try swallowing just yet. He stared in fascination as Mike emptied himself onto his hand and chest, looking up in time to see Mike’s expression of pure bliss as he came down from his climax. _He’d_ done that to Mike? Really?

Tentatively, he took a small lick of the milky substance coating his palm. Not what he’d expected, but not bad. He could see himself learning to swallow in the future.

As he looked up, wiping his hand on the sheets, he saw Mike staring at him in wonder, tinged with adoration.

“That was… _wow.”_ Mike fell back on the pillows, his breathing slowing. “I had no idea…”

“Truthfully,” Joel admitted, “neither did I.”

“Could have fooled me. Get up here.”

As if Joel could do anything else. He moved up the bed and was quickly pulled into a passionate kiss, which he returned with enthusiasm. He hardly even noticed when Mike started to undo his pants, only breaking the kiss to help get them off all the way and kick them off the bed.

There they were, naked together for the first time; Joel’s initial self-consciousness quickly gave way to sheer desire, reveling in finally sharing himself with Mike this way. Mike’s eyes were darkened with need, smoldering with longing, and Joel was powerless under their gaze.

“I see _you’re_ ready,” Mike said slyly, his hand drifting almost casually between Joel’s legs, as if Joel wasn’t about ten seconds from coming apart under his touch.

“For you?” Joel looked him in the eye, smiling a little. “Always.”

Mike looked as if he might just dive straight onto him, but managed to restrain himself, looking at Joel with a teasing skepticism. “Uh- _huh._ Right.”

“I am!” Joel protested weakly as Mike moved down between his legs, kissing his way there. “It just took me a while to figure it out, that’s all.”

Mike propped his chin on his hand, and Joel thought that he was the only man he knew who could be face-to-face with another man’s erection and be completely casual about it. “You know, I don’t think I believe you.”

“How can I prove it to you?” Joel managed, his voice dry. He’d play along — for now.

Mike smiled. “Hold still.”

“What —?”

“You heard me. Hold _still._ Hands at your sides.”

“All right.” Joel obediently lay back, his hands at his sides. Now that he was prone on his back, he couldn’t quite see what Mike was doing. He wasn’t alarmed, only curious.

“Joel?” Mike was sitting up now, looking at him with unexpected seriousness. “Do you trust me?”

Joel nodded immediately. “With my life.”

Mike didn’t answer right away; when he did, his voice was thick. Joel wondered if anyone had ever said that to him before. “Me, too. With you, I mean. So…don’t move, okay?”

“Okay.” Joel wasn’t nervous anymore, only anticipating.

Mike laid back down, still looking at him. “Don’t worry. I don’t bite. Unless…that’s something you’re into?”

Joel smirked. “Not now, but I can keep an open mind.”

Mike chuckled. “I’ll have to remember that.” And with no further preludes, he bent and took Joel in his mouth.

“Mike — _ah —”_ Every thought evaporated from Joel’s mind in that instant, unable to think, unable to feel anything but the glorious wet warmth of Mike’s lips around him, his tongue sliding around and over every sensitive spot Joel didn’t know he had, his hand lovingly exploring the length that wasn’t in his mouth.

He tried to sit up, to see what was happening, but Mike’s eyes instantly met his and he remembered his promise, dropping back down. Maybe that was a good thing; seeing exactly what Mike was doing might have sent him over the edge right there. He pressed his head back into the pillow, warmth radiating through him, longing to touch Mike but settling for crumpling the sheets in his fists, fighting to keep his hips from driving forward and just drinking it all in, closing his eyes as he lost himself to the sensations.

There was a stroke, then a lick, then a suck, and — oh, Joel had no idea what Mike was doing and he didn’t care, he just wanted _more,_ wanted it all: the heat, the wetness, the softness, _more_ of this man who so obviously loved him, whose love he returned in full measure.

“Mike…” he whimpered, no other words adequate to try to convey even a tenth of what he was feeling.

He opened his eyes to see Mike looking at him, smiling softly and nodding.

“I love you, too,” he said, before dipping his head back down.

If he hadn’t been so boneless already, Joel would have melted right into the sheets. Of course he knew. He’d always known.

That was his last fleeting thought before he gave up thinking altogether, gave himself over to Mike’s touch, his movements, his tenderness, to a love he never thought he’d find, much less deserved, least of all with this man, least of all now.

_Him…_

_Mike…_

_Everything…_

_Now…_

His climax slammed into him out of nowhere, seizing him with an intensity he never expected, wrenching a primal cry from his throat as he nearly tore the sheets off the bed, barely noticing as Mike swallowed a bit, then looked up with hazy eyes, seemingly more turned on by watching Joel come apart than finishing what had brought him there.

As Joel slowly came down, Mike wiped his mouth casually, almost carelessly, on the back of his hand, and Joel would have sworn he was getting hard again just from that simple gesture. “Guess you were ready, after all.”

Joel indicated the mess he’d made. “Clearly, I’ve been ready for a while.”

Mike surveyed the area thoughtfully. “I think we both were.”

He got off the bed, but before he could go anywhere, Joel stopped him, pointing to a corner of the room. “On top of the laundry basket.”

Mike walked over there and found a clean washcloth. Raising an eyebrow, he started to move to the door, but Joel spoke up again. “Nightstand.”

“Wow, I didn’t even notice,” Mike commented as he took the glass of water Joel had put there earlier, dampening the cloth with it. He looked at Joel as he sat on the bed, smiling a little. “You really did think of everything.”

Joel smiled languidly as Mike started to clean him up, reaching for the glass to take a swallow. “Well, almost. But that’s for another time.”

“Yeah. Definitely.” Joel did not miss the gleam in Mike’s eye as he took the cloth, and his turn.

Once he was done, he tossed the cloth on the floor and the two of them lay down, sliding together in a comforting, familiar embrace. Joel exhaled deeply, hardly able to believe what had just happened, slowly allowing his ever-working mind to process it all. Despite the turmoil of emotions churning in him — all of them good ones — there was only one thing he could say.

He turned to Mike, overwhelmed by all he was feeling and yet still calmed by his presence. The heady rush of their first few months together bloomed in him again, tempered now by the peaceful assurance that had slowly flourished over the last few months. Would he ever get tired of feeling this way?

“This is such a cliché, but…this has been amazing. I’m — I’m so happy.”

Mike smiled. “‘Happy’ looks good on you, Joel.”

Joel looked at the man beside him, the man he loved with every ounce of his being, flushed and tousled and absolutely adorable, and felt as though nothing could be better than this moment.

“‘Happy’ kind of looks good on you, too,” he teased.

Mike shoved him playfully. “You’re the brains, Robinson. Let me have the looks.”

Joel shrugged, smiling. “I suppose that’s another way I can make it up to you.”

Mike gasped in feigned shock. “You mean _this_ —” he gestured up and down the bed “— wasn’t?”

Joel gazed innocently at the ceiling. “I’ll let you be the judge of that.”

“Well —” Mike leaned over to kiss him “— as far as I’m concerned, you made a good start.”

Joel raised an eyebrow. “Only a start?”

“Don’t tell me tonight is all you had in mind for us?”

“Not by a long shot.” But of course Mike already knew that.

“There you go.”

They laid together in contented silence for some time, relaxed but not quite ready to sleep, knowing they still had the rest of the night. As they cuddled in each other’s arms, Joel thought of a question he had been pondering for some time.

“Mike,” he ventured, “have you ever stopped to think about how crazy this whole thing is?”

“Huh?” Mike looked at him, puzzled. “What do you mean?”

“This. Us. You and me.” Joel motioned vaguely between them. “Do you realize that if it wasn’t for a whole bunch of weird happenstances, we might never have met? What if I hadn’t been shot into space? What if I hadn’t made the ’bots? What if the temp agency had sent someone else that day? What if —?”

“That kind of makes it all the more remarkable, don’t you think?” Mike sat up, leaning on his elbow. “Actually, maybe that’s the problem. Maybe you’re thinking about it too much.”

Joel just stared at him.

“Joel, I’ve thought about it, too. How if even just one thing had been different, maybe we wouldn’t be together. Maybe. But you know what?” Mike smiled. “That just reminds me how lucky we are.”

Joel considered, feeling his own smile widen as he realized what Mike was getting at. He was right. What really mattered was that they _were_ together, not how they got together. Whatever force or forces controlled and shaped the universe had seen fit, through a series of strange coincidences and circumstances, to bring Mike into his life, and he couldn’t be happier. Of all the turns and steps he had taken so far in his life, he would always be grateful for the ones that had led him to Mike. And now, they would walk that path together.

“You’re right,” he said to Mike, leaning over to kiss him. “We _are_ lucky.”

Mike grinned. “You know, this really has been a great night.” Before Joel could reply, he added, “After all, you just admitted that I’m right. Again!”

Joel rolled his eyes. “Just because you _may_ be right, that doesn’t mean that _I’m_ wrong.”

“You said it, not me.”

Well, at least Joel now had a surefire way to stop him talking. When they were alone, at least. He suddenly rolled over, pinning Mike on his back and straddling him, before leaning over to whisper, “Speaking of getting lucky…”

The unexpected movement left Mike breathless, but he quickly recovered. “Weren’t we talking about _being_ lucky?”

Joel’s hand found its way between their legs. “Would you rather I talk, or show you?”

Mike pulled him down into a long kiss before whispering, “Show me.”

They didn’t talk again for the rest of the night.

o~O~o

Kendra returned to the apartment with Tom and Crow late the next morning, just before noon. Fortunately, Joel and Mike were up and dressed in time. The ’bots rushed in, their bags stuffed with prizes from the arcade and old toys and games from the twins. As Joel was paying Kendra, they ran straight for Mike, eager to tell him everything about their new friends.

“So they hit it off?” Joel asked Kendra.

“From twins to quadruplets!” Kendra laughed. “They had a great time at the arcade and were up until four a.m. at my house playing _Mario Party_ and watching _Beast Wars_. Tom made all the jokes about Miles’s name and Alex helped Crow win at Skee-Ball. They’re already asking me when the ’bots can come play again. And, since the ’bots kept them out of Daisy’s and my hair for once…” She raised an eyebrow before continuing. “Let’s just say _we_ had a good night, too. As I’m sure _you_ did.”

 _“Kendra,”_ Joel lightly rebuked her, but couldn’t help smiling a little.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Kendra said cheekily. “And, yes, you can send them to play with Alex and Miles anytime you want. No charge. In fact, maybe _I_ should pay _you_ for that.”

Joel smiled. “Thank you, Kendra.”

Kendra winked at him as she turned to leave. “Just invite Daisy and me to your wedding, boss. We’ll teach you to waltz. That’ll be thanks enough. See you later.”

 _Your wedding._ Joel sat down on the couch after she left, thinking that simple phrase over. Something he’d never given any thought to before. Sure, he’d always had a vague notion in his mind that one day he might get married, and his mother had certainly pestered him about it enough over the years, but being married had never been something he’d aspired to, really. He hadn’t been in a hurry to settle down or start a family, and had always been perfectly content on his own, so he’d let the idea of marriage fall by the wayside as life had gone on.

Then he’d been shot into space, and ended up starting a family — _creating_ one — if not exactly in the traditional method. Then he’d left them, and they’d found him again, with their new “parent” in tow. And then he and that parent had fallen in love, and Joel couldn’t imagine his life without him now.

So, since those boxes were checked…what did he think about marriage now?

It didn’t take vows or paperwork to be a family. They were one already. But Joel had to admit he was rather taken with the thought of him and Mike making their relationship “official”, of the two of them formally promising to be together till death — with the ’bots, of course. And hey, why did it have to stop at death? Maybe he could build robot bodies to upload their minds into and they really could be together forever.

He glanced over at Mike, listening patiently to Tom and Crow chatter on about the fun they’d had and razzing him about the fun _he_ must have had, and taking it all in stride, teasing and bantering with them right back. Cambot and Gypsy would be home on Monday, and the same thing would happen with them as they went on and on about their weekend in Madison. A question occurred to him then, as he looked at the man he loved, interacting with the ’bots as if they were his own — and really, they were.

_Do I want to spend the rest of my life with him?_

It wasn’t a question he would seriously consider now. He and Mike still had a lot of work ahead of them — getting a house, solidifying their finances, and, of course, seeing where their relationship might go. Who knew what their lives might be like six months from now? They had never once rushed into anything, and Joel saw no reason to hurry this next possible step. No, he decided; he’d give it maybe a year, see what happened, and revisit the question then.

 _A year._ Never had he once allowed himself to think that far ahead about a relationship, to even believe it could last that long. But then again, he’d never been in love like this, either.

Maybe being in love for a lifetime could happen, too.

As Crow, Tom and Mike came over to him, Crow and Tom proudly showing off their haul and babbling about their night out, Joel’s eyes met Mike’s for an instant. It was just a glimpse, but it told Joel everything he needed to know.

Mike was happy, with life just like this. Just as Joel was.

As Joel turned his attention to Tom and Crow, he packed up the question and put it away. Somehow, though, he felt that when the time came to take it out again, the answer would be _yes._


	12. Spend A Lifetime

_“All I want to do is spend a lifetime with you, baby…”_

_~ “Spend a Lifetime”, Jamiroquai_

 

_April, one year later_

 

Joel sat nervously on the living room couch, the lights dimmed slightly, waiting for Mike to come home from work. He’d taken a rare day off to make sure everything was ready; now came the hardest part. The plan was simple enough, but even the most basic plan wouldn’t be successful without luck. What if Mike was late coming home? What if the ’bots forgot something? What if he —?

No. He had to stop thinking like that. He was already the luckiest man alive; Mike and the ’bots reminded him of that every single day. Surely, his luck could hold out just a bit longer.

Cambot, Gypsy, Tom and Crow all filed into the living room, standing in that order in front of the couch like they were about to take a bow after a performance. They eyed their creator thoughtfully, almost casually, as if he wasn’t about to change all their lives forever in a matter of minutes. With their help, of course.

“Joel?” Gypsy said after a minute. “You’re shaking.”

“R-really? I — I hadn’t noticed,” Joel stammered out.

“You should really just relax,” Tom said. “If you’re only going to do this once, let’s do it right.”

_Yeah. No pressure._

Crow rolled his eyes. “That might explain why I was built after you. You were the rough draft, I —” he spun around dramatically, spreading his arms “— was the masterpiece.”

“Why, you —!”

“That’s enough, you two,” Joel said firmly.

Miraculously, they listened, returning their attention to Joel. “Oh, right,” said Tom, almost sounding contrite. “It’s your day, Joel. We won’t spoil it.”

Joel smiled, looking at each of them in turn. “It’s your day, too. None of this would have happened without you. All of you.”

“Well, if _I_ hadn’t hidden Mike’s credit cards —” Crow began.

“And if _I_ hadn’t hired that brass band —” Tom retorted.

Joel shook his head, chuckling as they continued to bicker. Some things would never change.

The phone started ringing; Gypsy went to answer it. “Hello, Robinson-Nelson household. Oh, hi Mike. Yes, he’s right here.” She handed the phone to Joel.

Joel took the receiver with a trembling hand. He willed himself to calm down, breathing deeply. “Mike?”

“Joel, the garage door won’t open for some reason. Maybe my opener’s not working?”

“You are actually using your garage opener this time, right? Not the air conditioner remote?”

“Ha. Ha. Ha. Well, I just tried the keypad and that’s not working, either.”

“Huh. It worked for me this morning. I’ll look at it after dinner. Just come in the front door.” Joel’s heart was pounding so loudly he was sure Mike could hear it over the phone.

“Okay. Be right there.” _Click._

Joel handed the phone to Gypsy so she could put it back. He didn’t trust himself to stand right now. Leaning forward, he rested his elbows on his knees.

“Are you ready, guys?” he asked the ’bots.

Crow sighed. “Joel…we’ve been ready for two years.” Gypsy, Tom and Cambot all nodded in agreement.

Joel smiled. “You know, now that you mention it…so have I.”

The ’bots eyed him skeptically. They didn’t have a chance to comment before the front door opened and Mike came in. They turned to face him, but didn’t say anything.

“Hey — oh hey, look! You’re all here!” Mike sounded surprised and pleased; sometimes he was lucky to get even one greeting at the door, never mind all five of them. Joel decided that from now on, that was going to change. Seeing Mike’s smile as he walked in the door was reason enough.

“Hi, honey,” he said, hoping his voice didn’t sound as squeaky as he thought it did. “How was your day?”

“Fine. Why are the lights so low? What are you all doing here?”

Joel smiled. “We were waiting for you.”

Mike looked at him, quizzical but still touched. “You were?”

Joel looked at the ’bots — their ’bots, really — before turning back to Mike. “Yeah, we were. Even when we didn’t know it.”

Mike tilted his head as Crow and Tom made retching sounds. “What do you mean?”

“Do you know what today is, Mike?”

“Um…Thursday?” Out of anyone’s mouth but Mike’s, that would have been a weak attempt at a joke. Joel was pretty sure Mike genuinely did not know it was Thursday.

Not that he could fault him for that, really. Instead of answering, he reached for the family calendar lying next to him and held it up for Mike to see. Today’s date was circled in bright red, with just one word written in capital letters: “ANNIVERSARY.”

“But we didn’t have our first date until —” Mike frowned, then seemed to remember something and smiled. “Oh, right. Today’s _that_ day.”

Joel nodded. “It’s the anniversary of the day you all came to the shop.” He smiled, putting the calendar down. “That’s the day all of this really began.”

Mike smiled, joining Joel on the couch and taking his hand. “The start of the best two years of my life so far.”

“Mine, too.” Joel nodded, squeezing Mike’s hand to steady his nerves. He gestured to the ’bots. “And theirs, I think.”

“Actually,” Tom began, “the first couple years of being pure energy at the end of the universe were pretty sweet —”

“I only _thought_ _,”_ Joel interrupted gently. “Anyway, I — well, _we_ — have something to show you.”

“Oh? What is it?”

Joel motioned to Cambot as some of his nervousness finally began to fade. This was all going perfectly. “Take it away, guys.”

Cambot spun around to face the opposite wall, clicking his lens before opening it to project an image onto the white blank surface, black solid letters spelling one word: _WILL._

Gypsy, who’d been struggling to keep her mouth closed, finally opened it to reveal white plastic letters spelling a single word: _YOU._

Tom did a few spins in the air, shaking himself vigorously. When he finally stopped, he wobbled a bit from side to side, but colored lights had turned on in his dome, illuminating a word in transparent letters: _MARRY._

“Show-off,” Crow was heard to mutter. Shaking his head, he bent and picked up a white cardboard sign lying at his feet. He held it up to reveal a name written carelessly in red marker: _JOEL?_

“We would have put ‘ _ME_ ’, but we thought that might give you the wrong idea, Mike,” Crow explained.

“Well, Crow, it’s not that I’m not flattered,” Mike said teasingly, “but you’re right, I think you and I are better off as friends.”

“Oh, for Pete’s sake!” Gypsy cried out. How she could still shout coherently while keeping the letters firmly in place and not moving her lips was a mystery none of them would solve. “Don’t you get it, Mike? How can you be so blind?”

“Yeah, Mike!” Tom chimed in. He shook his dome again to punctuate his comment. “C’mon, what’s your answer?”

Mike frowned for a moment. “Answer? What’s the…?” He looked at each of them again, left to right, reading the words they held, and gradually, slowly, shock and comprehension began to dawn. “Oh my God…”

By this time Joel had slipped, unnoticed, to one knee on the floor at Mike’s side, waiting patiently for him to piece it all together. He took the opportunity to reach into his pocket for the blue velvet box that had been burning a hole there all day.

Mike finally turned to look at him, and seeing how stunned he was, Joel was glad he was already sitting. Mike’s jaw dropped as he saw the box in Joel’s hand.

“J-Joel?” Mike stuttered in a whisper. “You — you’re —”

Joel smiled, the last of his anxiety vanishing like mist in the sun. “Just an average guy, not too different from you, who’s totally, hopelessly in love with a not-so-average guy.”

“Can we meet him sometime?” Crow asked.

Joel laughed before focusing back on Mike. “And,” he said, reaching to squeeze Mike’s hand, “hoping that said not-so-average guy loves him, too.”

Mike nodded, smiling as he found his voice. “I do. I mean, he does. Well — okay, just to be clear: I love you, Joel. So, so much.”

Joel took a deep breath. “Enough to spend the rest of your life with me? And them?”

“Oh, Joel…” Mike inhaled sharply, and though Joel might have been imagining it, even in the dim light he thought he could see tears gleaming in Mike’s eyes as he blinked back his own. “Do you — I mean, are you —”

“Does marrying him mean that you’ll never be able to speak in complete sentences again?” Tom asked.

Joel ignored him, as the rest of the world seemed to fade out of focus and all he could see was Mike.

“Mike, when we first met, I thought there was something special about you. It takes someone pretty amazing to survive five years in space with nothing but bad movies and, well, these four.” He tilted his head toward the ’bots, surprised at how steady his voice was. “Now, after two years with you, I _know_ how much is special about you _._ They do, too. I just wish I could have known that much, much sooner. And…I want to spend the rest of my life making it up to you.”

Mike gasped as Joel popped open the box to reveal a gorgeous white gold band inlaid with three round diamonds; simple, but stunning. From the corner of his eye, Joel saw Gypsy nodding with approval at Mike’s reaction; her instincts had been right on.

“Mike Nelson, will you marry me?”

Silence fell in the longest thirty seconds of Joel’s life; the ’bots all leaned forward, nearly falling over in anticipation of Mike’s answer.

Just when Joel was about to make a joke about his knee being ready to give out, Mike finally spoke. He was clearly trying to look serious, but couldn’t hide the telltale glint in his eye that told Joel he was about ten seconds away from bursting into laughter.

“You know, Joel Robinson, I’m not sure if you’ll ever fully make it up to me…but, marrying me is a pretty good start.”

Joel raised an eyebrow, allowing himself to grin a little. “So is that a yes?”

Mike couldn’t hold back his smile any longer as he dropped to Joel’s side and reached for him. “Yes, it’s a yes. God, I thought you’d never ask!”

The ’bots whooped loudly on hearing this, only allowing Mike about five seconds to kiss Joel before they rushed the newly engaged couple, dropping the words they’d been holding as they surrounded and tackled them, cheering and yelling congratulations. Somehow Joel managed to hold onto the ring in the chaos, and as Mike’s hand found his in the pile of ’bots and limbs, he waited until their eyes met before slipping it on. Perfect fit, just like Mike’s fingers through his as Mike’s hand squeezed his tightly. (He had Gypsy to thank for that, too.)

Joel’s happiness was a delirium. Never, ever could he have imagined this feeling for himself. More importantly, judging by Mike’s laughter and the light in his eyes, his new fiancé (and what a lovely ring that had to it) felt exactly the same.

Eventually, the ’bots climbed off their humans, who were still holding hands, still smiling adoringly at each other as if they couldn’t look anywhere else. Joel barely heard Gypsy’s coo as her eye shone down on them.

The spell was broken by Crow. “Well, lady and gentlemen,” he said, addressing the other ’bots, “we have an engagement — two years to the day we found Joel! Ha! I win! Pay up.”

The other ’bots seemed to grudgingly concede the loss, muttering or beeping promises of later payment that would probably never be kept as Joel and Mike looked on, amused.

Joel reluctantly released Mike’s hand to cross his arms. “Were you all betting _again?”_

“Yep!” Tom replied, more cheerful now. “We all bet on how long it would take you to pop the question. I must say, we had quite a range of times between us.”

“I bet thirty-two months!” Gypsy piped up.

“Twenty-six months, three weeks, two days and sixteen hours for me,” said Tom.

Cambot beeped five times.

“Five months, Cambot?” Mike asked.

Crow laughed. “Don’t be ridiculous, Mike! He bet five _years.”_

“What are you going to bet on next?” Joel had long since learned that some battles weren’t meant to be won. If anything, he would rather have them betting on his and Mike’s relationship than sports or casino games.

“Well, there’s the wedding date, of course,” Crow replied.

“And the bridal shower date,” Gypsy added.

“Of course — wait, _what?”_ Mike’s brain had just caught up to his ears, and Joel tried not to laugh at his look of horror.

Thankfully, Tom chose that moment to interrupt. “You’re not planning on adding to this family, are you?” he asked, almost accusingly.

Joel and Mike looked at each other and just laughed, shaking their heads. Even so, Joel felt a burst of warmth at Tom, for the first time, referring to them as a _family_. Judging by Mike’s knowing look, he hadn’t missed that either.

“Hmph. So much for that milestone, then.” Tom tried — and failed — to hide his relief. “We’ve already got the house; what’s left? Centron and Coronet didn’t cover this part — oh! I know! The first fight —!”

“I think we’ll have plenty more milestones for you all to bet on in the years to come,” Mike said reassuringly.

“Oh, this is the best day ever!” Crow started jumping up and down. “I won the bet _and_ we have an ending for our movie!”

The little gold robot hopped around in excitement as Joel and Mike looked at him, puzzled.

“Movie?” Joel asked.

“It’s not another _Earth vs. Soup_ sequel, is it?” Mike asked cautiously. “I’m still not sure the world is ready for _Mars vs. Ramen_. Or _Neptune vs. Gazpacho_.”

Tom sighed. “Thankfully for the sake of all creatures great and small, no. It was _going_ to be a surprise —” how he managed to glare at Crow despite having no eyes was a rather impressive feat “— but we might as well show you now.”

Mike looked curiously at Joel, who shrugged. “I didn’t know about this. They must have had their own plan.”

“We always do!” Gypsy said proudly. “Wait right here, you two.” She rushed off before Joel could ask her where she thought they might go, returning shortly with her laptop in mouth and depositing it on Joel’s lap. She and Cambot quickly surrounded Joel and Mike on either side as Joel booted up the laptop, Tom hovering between them and Crow slipping in beside Joel.

Gypsy directed him to the appropriate file, which was stored in a secret subfolder stashed in a folder containing _Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea_ fanfiction, though Joel wasn’t sure if it was being written or read. Probably both.

“It’s just a rough cut for now,” Gypsy explained. “We were going to finish editing it tonight, after we got the footage from Cambot. And we still need to add music and stuff.”

“What is it?” Mike asked.

“Oh,” Gypsy said casually, “just an engagement present.”

“What?!” Crow exclaimed. “So we still have to get them a wedding present? And then anniversary presents every year for the rest of their lives? _Where does it end?”_

“Funeral flowers,” Joel said. Quickly, before Crow could reply, he reached over and hit Play. Luckily, Crow didn’t say anything else as he crowded closer to the laptop with the others.

The movie started with a familiar scene; Joel sat up in surprise as he realized this was footage of that day exactly two years ago, with the ’bots tackling him outside the shop. He could see Mike in the background, looking on in amusement. The movie went black for a few seconds when Cambot nuzzled Joel’s shoulder.

Joel looked up at the others, questioning, but Mike tapped his shoulder to bring him back, his own eyes still fixed on the screen. Joel looked down in time to see still images of the dinner they had had that night at his old apartment. They looked like some of the best family photos, candid and casual. Joel swallowed.

As the movie continued, Joel saw more familiar scenes, some where he’d known he was being recorded and others where he didn’t: their first slow dance, their family weekend trip to St. Paul, posing in front of their new house, Daisy and Kendra attempting to teach them to waltz, among many other wonderful memories. He and Mike stared in amazement as they watched their relationship play out in front of them in home videos and photos, all recorded by Cambot or taken from family albums.

The video was clearly homemade; the camera angles weren’t always flattering, the audio was inconsistent, and the editing was a little choppy, among other imperfections. But to Joel, it was the best movie he’d ever seen. This was his life now, his and Mike’s, and seeing it all played back made him realize just how far they had come in only two years. He could never have foreseen what that fateful reunion outside the shop would have led to — and what was more, he wouldn’t have wanted to. Experiencing all of it, unplanned and unpredictable, had been a journey filled with highs, lows, and everything in-between, and one he wouldn’t have traded for the world.

Sure, his years on the SOL had been _some_ of the best of his life. But now he had a feeling the best was yet to come.

He couldn’t wait to find out.

The movie ended and the credits began to roll, simple scrolling white text on a black background: STARRING JOEL ROBINSON & MIKE NELSON. WITH CAMBOT, GYPSY, TOM SERVO & CROW T. ROBOT. CAMERA BY CAMBOT. PRODUCED, DIRECTED AND EDITED BY CROW T. ROBOT, TOM SERVO & GYPSY.

There was a minute of silence as the ’bots looked curiously at Joel and Mike, trying to gauge their reaction. For their part, neither of them spoke immediately.

“Guys…” Joel finally managed. “I don’t know what to say. I’m so proud of you all.” He looked at each of them in turn, smiling as tears again threatened to break free. “Thank you so, so much.”

“Yeah,” Mike said, his voice husky and his own eyes suspiciously shiny. “It’s great. I can’t wait to see the final cut.”

“Let’s watch it on movie night!” Crow suggested.

The others quickly concurred with this idea. Everyone, that is, except Mike, who looked a bit lost in thought.

“Mike?” Gypsy asked. “Is something wrong?”

“No, no,” Mike said quickly. “It’s nothing, really.”

“I _told_ you not to use so many Dutch angles, Cambot,” Tom muttered. Cambot indignantly beeped a response that Joel decided not to translate.

“No!” Mike quickly held up a hand. “Guys, your movie is wonderful. You all did a great job. It’s just, I don’t know…it feels like maybe our engagement should be the beginning of the story, not the end.”

“We can always make a sequel,” Crow piped up.

Mike smiled. “You know, Crow, for once I think a sequel would be a very good idea. And why stop at one?”

“Said the producers of _Witchcraft_ ,” Tom quipped.

“And _The Land Before Time_ ,” Crow muttered.

“Speaking of time,” Joel said, glancing at the living room clock, “we have a couple more hours till our dinner reservation. What should we do till then?”

There was silence as the six of them exchanged glances, trying to think of an activity. Crow was the one who spoke up. “Can we all wrestle on the floor?”

Joel and Mike looked at each other and shrugged.

“I’m down,” said Mike.

“Why not?” said Joel.

No sooner had Joel said this than Crow dove straight at him, catching him off-guard and pinning him to the ground. Joel was quick to retaliate as Gypsy tackled Mike and Tom and Cambot smashed into each other, dropping to the carpet. Joel barely gave a second thought to rug burn in the chaos, his shrieks and laughter blending with the others’ in the fray.

Time passed quickly as the six of them fought, all the emotions that had built up between them that day releasing in a glorious burst of pure joy at just being together. When Joel or Mike pinned each other down in the fracas to steal the occasional kiss, the ’bots either pretended not to notice or their humans simply ignored the sounds of gagging.

Finally, when they could play no more, all of them lying on the floor in a heap, a spent and smiling Joel found himself in Mike’s arms again. Instinctively, he pulled him closer, and Mike did the same; Joel slid his hand into Mike’s, smiling as he felt the ring press into his palm.

The thought he had had the night he and Mike finally admitted their feelings came back to him now, no longer a distant echo, but a voice he heard loud and clear.

 _Don’t you_ dare _let him go, Joel Robinson._

He never would.

 

 _“In our darkest hour_  
_In the dead of the night_  
_I’ll make it up to you_  
_Your hands are mine_  
_I’ll make it up to you_  
_Promises are nothing more_  
_Than fleeting thoughts_  
_But you, you are my lifeline_ _  
I’ll make it up to you…”_

_~ “I’ll Make It Up to You”, Imagine Dragons_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Woo, can’t believe it’s done! My longest (posted) fic, and first “proper” multi-chapter story, and for this fandom, and these two… I promised myself I wouldn’t cry… (sniffle) Was this whole thing purely a novel-length(!) excuse to write something as light, fluffy and sweet as Crow’s mile-high meringue? …It may have been. ;)_  
>  _Anyway, some inspirational shout-outs here! Joel’s comment to Mike about the remote is a slight reference to GentleHum’s delightful ficlet “Remote Possibility”, which you can (and should) read[here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6917083). Gypsy’s helping Joel pick the ring was inspired by myrthrilmercury’s gem (haha) of a story, “Better Put a Ring On It”, which you can (and should) read [here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/11340285). I must also give major props to Paycheckgurl’s “Puzzling Out Love: How to Find the Missing Piece”, which was a great source of inspiration for this story as a whole, and can (and should) be read [here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12236883). Give the rest of these authors’ work a look too, while you’re there — you’ll find plenty to enjoy._  
>  _I batted around a few ideas for the proposal, some more elaborate than others, but finally realized this was how it needed to happen. It was the only way that felt completely right. This is what happens when you trust your characters and let_ them _tell_ you _what to do. This is also where the idea for the ’bots’ movie came from; IMO, if there’s any MST3K character who needs more love, it’s Cambot, and this is what he came up with for me. ;)_  
>  _Centron, for the unaware, refers to Centron Corporation, the production company behind numerous educational shorts from the 1940s through the ’60s, including several that were riffed on the show (and later on RiffTrax). Their library includes a short titled_ Handling Marital Conflicts. _Coronet is Coronet Films, who produced the short_ Are You Ready for Marriage?  
>  _To date, there are a handful of one-shot sequels set in this ’verse, and tentative plans for more; whenever the crew decides to tell me a new story, in or out of this series, I’ll be sure to share it. I love all of them too much to just let them go that easily. :) This whole story has been a total surprise to me, even as I was telling it; it may be my first multi-parter, but I know it won’t be my last. :)_  
>  _A huge thank you to my dear Dandelionish, for reading, cheerleading, critiquing, snarking and geeking out with me, and in general being the best best friend a girl ever had for a best friend. I am blessed beyond measure to have you in my life. :) Thank you as well to the lovely OtakuElf, who I was delighted (but not at all surprised ^_~) to learn is a fellow MSTie! Five years go by in a blink, don’t they, my dear? Your kindness, patience, understanding, and most of all your loyalty are appreciated more than I can say. :) And of course, big thanks to_ you, _as always, for reading, with special thanks to those who were kind enough to leave kudos and comments; I treasure every single one of them. Of course, I will still gratefully accept more. ;) The response to this story has been absolutely humbling and heartwarming, and so much more than I ever expected. Seeing some of the writers whose work I’ve enjoyed, and who inspired me, enjoying my work means more to me than I can put into words. This story owes its existence to you. :) If you enjoyed reading this even a fraction as much as I enjoyed writing and sharing it, I will be so, so happy. :) Hope to see you again soon!_


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